Ferrovial Stock

Good afternoon, everybody. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking. I would like to welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the company's operating results for the third quarter of 2026 and the specific presentations from Recent Awards in Nashville and Atlanta.

I'm joined here today by our CEO, Ignacio Madridejos, and our CFO, Ernesto Mozo. Just as a reminder, the presentations and the results report are available on our website. At the end of the presentation today, there will be a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]

Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, so actual figures may differ. During this call, we will also discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report and in our website.

With all this, I will hand over to Ernesto to cover the third quarter operating results. Ernesto, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia, and good morning or good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's operating results for the first 9 months of 2026. Overall, the first 9 months of 2026 showed a strong growth across our core businesses. particularly Highways and Construction. In Highways, 407 ETR delivered robust revenue growth despite lower traffic, while all our use managed lanes posted double-digit growth in revenue per transaction. Construction continued to improve profitability, with the adjusted EBIT margin reaching 4.1% in the first 9 months. In airports, March 2027 remains [ that Phase DBO ] which is subject to, among other factors, contractor fulfillment of the remediation plan submitted to the authority.

In terms of cash, we closed September with a net cash position of EUR 1,660 million, EUR 1.66 billion, excluding infrastructure project companies. The primary sources of cash were EUR 604 million of dividends from projects and EUR 591 million of construction operating cash flow, excluding tax payments and dividends. We also received EUR 96 million from divestments, mainly Silvertown Tunnel and Trans Chile. The main cash outflows included a EUR 63 million equity contribution to New Terminal One and EUR 461 million related to the cash dividend and treasury share purchases.

Regarding recent developments, our consortium was awarded I-24 Southeast Choice Lanes in Nashville and reached commercial close in September. In October, we were also awarded I-285 East Express Lanes, and our consortium was selected to deliver the D35 Highway P3 project in the Czech Republic. Additionally, we have announced the second [indiscernible] dividend for an aggregate amount of EUR 600 million payable in cash or Ferrovial shares at the election of our shareholders.

Let's move now to the 407 ETR. The 407 ETR delivered solid revenue growth in the period despite lower traffic. In the first 9 months, revenue grew by 18.4%. Toll revenue growth was primarily driven by higher toll rates which went into effect on January 1, 2026. EBITDA grew by 21% in the first 9 months. This includes a Schedule 22 payment provision of CAD 12.6 million compared with CAD 3.4 million last year. In the third quarter, EBITDA grew by 15.8%, impacted by the CAD 7.1 million provision recorded in Q3 2026 and this compares with CAD 9.8 million recovery of reversal in the Q3 2025. Excluding the scheduled 2 payment effect in both periods, EBITDA grew 19.4% in Q3 and 18.7% for the first 9 months.

Traffic declined 7.1% in the third quarter. When looking at the year-on-year comparison, it is important to bear in mind the different promotional approach with more targeted promotions in 2026 compared with 2025. Traffic was also affected by slower economic growth, particularly impacting heavy vehicles in sectors exposed to tariffs and discretionary trips. DDP in the region is almost flat in 2026, but major Canadian banks expect growth between 1% to 2% in 2027. Also affecting traffic were unfavorable weather, the timing of holidays and lower maintenance activity and alternative growth.

Dividend distributions remained strong. 407 ETR distributed CAD 1.05 billion during the first 9 months and a further CAD 1.05 billion dividend was approved for the fourth quarter. This brings total dividends approved in 2026 to CAD 2.1 billion compared to CAD 1.5 billion in 2025.

And now covering Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes in the next slide. The managed lanes continue to show solid demand and a strong operating performance despite construction works and capacity constraints in parts of the network. In terms of operating results, the 3 projects posted solid growth versus last year, both in terms of revenue and EBITDA despite the increase in revenue share.

Looking at each of the assets. At NT, Traffic declined by 2.5% in the quarter and 2.2% in the first 9 months, reflecting the impact from capacity improvement works. This works opened to traffic ahead of schedule on September 25. We except for 2 additional ramp projects that remain under construction. Despite lower traffic, NT revenue grew by 14.8% in the first 9 months. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.3% year-to-date, and it was impacted by $9.8 million of revenue share.

At LBJ traffic trends improved significantly after completion of the I-635 feeder corridor reflecting greater utilization of the managed lanes. Transactions increased 5.6% in the quarter and 3.9% in the first 9 months. Revenue grew 16.3% with adjusted EBITDA up 15.9% in the first 9 months. At NTE 35 West, transactions declined 1.1% in Q3 and 0.2% in the first 9 months. Traffic performance was affected by capacity constraints starting to occur in certain management instructions as congestion increased. Revenue grew by 15.8% in the first 9 months, while adjusted EBITDA increased 15.1%, impacted by $23.5 million of revenue share.

The next slide line shows all our Dallas-Fort Worth managed lanes registering double-digit growth in revenue per transaction, significantly outpacing inflation. This was driven by several factors. A favorable traffic mix with higher heavy vehicle volumes, thanks mostly to technology enhancements and camera recognition that started to be implemented in 2025. This improved vehicle classification as well as a higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE 35 West. For the first 9 months, revenue per transaction increased 17.1% at NTE, 12% at LBJ and 15.6% at NTE 35 West.

Looking at revenue per transaction growth in Q3 compared with Q2. At NTE, the lower growth in revenue per transaction mainly reflects fewer and less intensive mandatory mode events during the third quarter. At NTE 35 West, the comparison base is becoming more demanding as the benefits from improved vehicle classification began to have an impact in September 2025, while mandatory mode events also became more significant around the same period last year. As a result, the year-on-year contribution from both effects is now starting to normalize.

The operating performance supported higher distributions at the portfolio level. Dividend distributions for the first 9 months were at 100% stake, $118 million for NTE, $61 million for LBJ and $143 million for NTE 35 West. No changes versus June as these projects usually distribute dividends in June and December.

Let us now turn to I-66 and I-77. I-66 delivered an outstanding performance transactions increased 4.1% in the third quarter and 7% in the first 9 months. Revenue per transaction grew 10% in the first 9 months of the year and revenue increased 17% driven by higher toll rates with adjusted EBITDA up 18.1%. In Q3, the adjusted EBITDA margin was lower than in the first 9 months of the year, mainly due to higher provision for doubtful accounts related to video transactions. In terms of dividends, I-66 distributed $80 million in the first 9 months at 100% compared with $64 million in the same period last year.

At I-77 traffic declined by 5.3% in the quarter and 5.2% year-to-date. Performance was affected by heavy vehicles shifting to alternative routes, increasing available capacity in the corridor and summer travel showing fewer leisure trips in the third quarter. Revenue per transaction increased by 11% in the first 9 months and revenue grew by 5.4%. However, adjusted EBITDA declined 6.1%, mainly reflecting the step-up in the revenue share bond from 25% to 50%. This EBITDA impact is largely a first year effect and is expected to normalize over time as revenue grows within the new bond. I-77 distributed $18 million in the first 9 months at 100% compared with $22 million last year.

Turning to airports and starting with New Terminal One at JFK. March 2027 remains the Phase DBO date. This is subject to contractor execution and other factors, including the sequencing of the remaining activities, achievement of the required KPIs and coordination with key stakeholders, including CBP and TSA. The first set of basic trials has been completed and the remaining activities are focused on systems integration, testing and commissioning.

New Terminal One has reached 32 in agreements, comprising 24 executed agreements and [indiscernible] letters of intent as of the date of publication of the results. The international traffic performance at JFK has been affected by geopolitical developments and by FAA measures taken to manage New Yorker's capacity constraints. Those are related to air traffic controller staffing mainly.

Given the current market conditions, the Port Authorities Board of Commissioners approved extensions to the Phase B1 and B2 construction milestones. With the notice to proceed deadline extended to September 2030 for Phase B1 and June 2033 for B2. Our equity commitments have been completed following the EUR 63 million contribution invested in the second quarter. Total equity invested is EUR 1.042 billion.

Moving to Dalaman. Passenger traffic reached $4.5 million in the first 9 months. This is 4% lower than last year, mainly due to lower international volumes affected by political challenges in the Middle East, but this was partially offset by strong domestic traffic growth. Revenue declined by 7.1% and adjusted EBITDA declined 7.7% in the first 9 months, reflecting softer international traffic levels.

Moving now to Construction. The business division delivered a strong profitability and a record order book. Revenue reached EUR 5.8 billion in the first 9 months, increasing 9.1% like-for-like with adjusted EBIT margin improving to 4.1% from 3.7% last year, recording a solid 5.1% adjusted EBIT margin for the third quarter as well. Budimex maintained healthy profitability with a 6.9% adjusted EBIT margin for the first 9 months of the year and delivered higher like-for-like revenues. Webber increased its adjusted EBIT margin to 3.6% in the first 9 months of the year, supported by 17% like-for-like revenue growth and operating efficiencies.

Ferrovial Construction improved its adjusted EBIT margin to 2.6% from 1.7% in for the first 9 months of the year. This reflected better execution in North America, the United Kingdom and Spain and lower bidding costs following the submission of major bids in July and higher revenue. The order book reached a new all-time high of EUR 19 billion and increased 8.2% like-for-like compared with December 2025.

The composition of the order book remains very healthy. It does not reflect roughly EUR 8.7 billion in contracts that are pre awards or pending financial close as of September 2026. These are mainly related to the I-24 and Budimex contract. Half of our backlog is in our core US and Canada market, which we expect will continue to support future growth.

Well, a recap on the main operating results. We see the figures here on this slide. The strong revenue and profitability performance for the first 9 months with very strong results across the board, double-digit growth in like-for-like terms, of revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBIT.

And now to conclude the results presentation. Let's focus in the net debt infrastructure projects. We ended the first 9 months of the year with a net cash position of roughly EUR 1.7 billion compared with EUR 1.3 billion at the end of 2025. This reflects a strong cash generation, disciplined investment and the impact of recent divestments. The main components were EUR 604 million of dividends from projects, mainly from Highways, with EUR 350 million from the 407 ETR, EUR 159 million from the Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes and EUR 138 million from I-66 and EUR 11 million from the I-77 million. .

Next block is the construction operating cash flow, excluding tax payments and dividends, has reached EUR 591 million and reflects a strong operating performance, along with some compensation received in the U.S. and Canada. And also, it benefited from some prepayments received earlier than usual at Budimex. These inflows were partially offset by EUR 71 million of our operating cash outflows and EUR 56 million of tax payments, mainly in Poland.

In terms of investments, we had EUR 231 million, including mainly the last equity injection [indiscernible], together with investment synergy of EUR 75 million, of which EUR 42 million are related to the Leon County Solar PV Plant in Texas and construction invested EUR 71 million.

Then we have the interest received on cash -- I mean from other investment activities. This cash flow reached EUR 85 million and [indiscernible] basically cash remuneration on the liquidity we have. Divestments were EUR 96 million. The main component being Silvertown Tunnel and the transmission lines in Chile. Shareholder distributions include cash and share buybacks also and amounted to EUR 461 million. And then we have the cash flow from the financing activities, EUR 612 million and mainly is related to repayment of EUR 780 million corporate bond, the issuance of a new one, together with the dividends to minorities in Budimex, financial leases and interest payments.

Last in the cash breakdown, we have the effect of the exchange rate on cash equivalents of EUR 23 million. Overall, the group continues to maintain a strong net cash position and financial capacity while we are funding shareholder distributions and investment in our growth opportunities. Thanks for your attention.

I will now hand over to Ignacio to discuss the information on recent awards.

Thank you, Ernesto. And the following on the project overview presented at the commercial close and the information provided by TDOT, we'd like to provide some additional information on the concession payment structure and the revenue sharing mechanisms included in the concession agreement. The $24.8 billion figure published at our combined present value and nominal components as required by the [indiscernible]. To provide a consistent comparison, we have now presented all payments on a present value basis.

On this basis, the total payments to TDOT amount to $21 billion, which is the same value included in our offer. In accordance with the concession agreement, the payment profile is front loaded with approximately $7.7 billion of nominal payments during construction from 2027 to 2033, reaching approximately $1.1 billion nominal at peak. The remaining payments will be made during the operating period through 2085.

The table shows the full payment schedule on a present value basis. The $21 billion is calculated as of the contractual financial close deadline using the applicable discount rates with final amounts remaining subject to the financing structure at financial close.

In terms of financial structure, we will be providing more information at financial close. [ IFA ] requires a maximum leverage of 75% debt and 25% equity. In addition to these payments, the concession includes 2 revenue sharing mechanisms with TDOT. These are not included in the $21 billion and only apply the project performance above the defined thresholds.

The first is an excess revenue share. It begins when accumulated revenues exceed the base case level with TDOT observe increasing as the project IRR outperforms the base case. The second applies when toll rates exceed $3.2 per mile in 2025 dollars. TDOT receives 50% of the revenue between $3.2 and $4.8 per mile, 75% between $4.8 and $6.4 and 19% above $6.4. These dollar rates are escalating annually at the greater of 2.5% versus the average of state GDP, U.S. CPI and 3%, similar to the [soft cap ]. So overall, the structure provides TDOT with significant contractual payments while also allowing TDOT to participate in the upside if the project performs above the base case.

I will continue presenting the I-285 East Express Lanes, project in Atlanta an important addition to our managed lanes portfolio and a project with the potential to create significant long-term value. The presentation is similar to what I presented a few weeks ago about I24 project in Tennessee. The I-285 East program is structured in different phases under a comprehensive development agreement with TDOT. Ferrovial leads the project consortium with a 90% ownership stake. Phase 1 is the committed phase. It covers approximately 23 miles, including the extensions at SR 400 and I-85, adding to westbound express lanes in the I-285 corridor. The Phase 1 agreement includes [indiscernible] activities, and a 50-year operational maintenance period.

The project has an estimated construction cost of approximately $8.9 billion with an expected half year of construction period, expecting service commencement in 2034. The proposed concession payment is $23.1 billion. Final figures subject to interest rate movements and financial restructuring prior to financial close expected by October 2027. Additionally, $515 million will be paid at financial close as reimbursement of estate cost.

Phase 2 covers the corresponding [indiscernible] alignment with approximately 23 miles, including the extensions already mentioned. The second phase is partially committed, traffic and revenue assumptions and design and construction parameters are already defined while construction costs remains adjustable on inflation and the contractual parameters described in agreement. Phase 2 financial clause is expected in 2029, and opening expected in 2036.

Phase 3 is currently indicative. It covers approximately 40 miles in both directions along I-2855 and SR 141. Its scope, economics and timing remain estimates to be developed through the CDA. The current expected milestones are financial close in 2032 and opening in 2040. The important point is that Phase 2 and 3 are not automatically committed. They have to be negotiated and developed through the CDA and they will be executed under separate face agreements.

Turning to the economic fundamentals of the metro area. Atlanta is already one of the largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. with approximately 6.5 million residents. While continuing to grow at around 1.3% per year over the last decade. This population growth has been accompanied by a strong economic performance. Real GDP has grown at approximately 3.5% annually supported by a large and diversified employment base. The region also benefits from relatively high household incomes with media household income of approximately $92,000 around 13% above the U.S. average.

Atlanta is a major economic center, representing approximately 70% of Ferrovial's GDP and home to 14 Fortune 500 headquarters with a significant development pipeline of around 500 to 600 new projects per year. Importantly, this economic base is supported by a strong talent pipeline with more than 300,000 college students enrolled and approximately 64,000 degrees awarded annually, provided a continuous source of skill labor for the regional economy.

Atlanta is also a major transportation and logistics hub, supported by the world's busiest airports and the key interstate connections. Overall, Atlanta combined significant existing scale with a track record of sustained population and economic growth, high incomes and a deep talent base, supporting employment, mobility and long-term travel demand across the region.

Moving on to the corridor itself, I-285 brings together jobs, residential areas and freight flows across a single heavily used ringroad. I-285 currently carries approximately 200,000 to 240,000 vehicles per day, make it one of the region's most heavily used corridors. I-285 connects major employment and residential centers, with demand largely driven by short trips. Fewer than 3% of trips are end-to-end, and the average strip is approximately 5 miles, highlighting the importance of multiple access points along the corridor.

I-285 plays an important role in the region's freight and logistics network. True track traffic is routed away from Central Atlanta and onto the ring road and its interchanges, contributing to a meaningful highway vehicle presence of approximately 10% to 12% of corridor traffic. The corridor is also an important regional connector between Atlanta's major interstate highways, around 20% of truck trips travel between I-285 and I-75, reinforcing I-285 role as a key freight bypass. Beyond freight, I-285 supports significant commuting and business demand creating a diversified mix of users throughout the day.

Overall, this combination of local, commuting, business, freight and regional traffic creates a broad and diversified demand base with connectivity playing a critical role in capturing that demand.

On the next slide, we saw the level of congestion on I-285 with a long duration and intensity not seen on other highways. As commented before, the corridor carries approximately 200,000 to 240,000 vehicles per day. The corridor experiences up to 8 hours of daily congestion. At big times, speeds can fall to around 20 miles per hour, with 4 to 5 hours of daily peak by direction. Importantly, this is not a recent or temporary pattern. Congestion has been persistent across the corridor for more than 10 years.

To put this congestion profile into context, SR 400 provides a useful benchmark given a similar managed lanes framework in the Atlanta market. The heat maps compare weekday traffic conditions in 2025 between I-285 and SR 400. Areas shown in red colors indicate more severe congestion and longer delays. What stands out is the [indiscernible] a stronger congesting profile of I-285 East. Congestion extends across more hours of the day and both directions, while SR 400 is more concentrated around peak hours and the big duration with lower intensity.

I-285 East has greater freight flows exposure, trucks accounts for approximately 10% to 12% of traffic compared with around 3% on SR 400. I-285 East also has significant greater extended vehicles as possible, similar to [indiscernible] traffic. So while the tolling frameworks are comparable, I-285 East has materially stronger underlying demand, which creates a deeper need for reliable travel times throughout the date and increases the potential value that the express lanes can provide to drivers.

Looking ahead, the traffic case is supported by a combination of strong assist in demand, suppress demand and expected continued regional growth. Starting with the regional outlook, third-party forecast for 2025 to 2034, so expected annual growth of approximately 1.1% for population, 1.9% for real income per capita and 2.6% for real GDP. Importantly, the traffic case does not rely on future growth to create demand. As we have seen in the previous slides, demand is already established and the corridor is operating under significant capacity constraints.

We also see evidence of suppress demand. Between 2012 and 2023, traffic on I-285 between I-75 and I-85 grew by approximately 0.4% annually compared with approximately 1.1% on regional freeways. However, growth on I-285 has been concentrated during off peak periods where capacity remains available while peak period traffic has been constrained by congestion. We, therefore, interpret the lower observed growth as evidence of capacity constraints rather than weak underlying demand.

These 2 years, there is latent demand that [indiscernible] returned to the corridor once additional capacity becomes available. Based on our management's portfolio experience, users typically take approximately 2 to 3 years to become familiar with a new road configuration and the benefits it provides supporting progressive adoption following opening. Together, a strong existing demand, the release of suppress demand anticipated continued regional growth and expected progressive user adoption support the long-term traffic assumptions for I-285 East following its expected opening in 2034.

Turning to Connectivity. As highlighted earlier, it is particularly important on I-285, given the predominantly local nature of demand and the relatively short average strip length. This has, therefore, been a key focus of our design and one of its principal differentiators. Compared with TDOT reference design, our solution increases [indiscernible] movements from 42 to 170 and entries and exits per mile from 2.3 to 3.1. Most importantly, the share of corridor trips serve increases from 55% in the reference design to 95% in our design. This represents approximately 1.7x more in scope trips.

A particular focus has been freeway to freeway connectivity at SR 400 and I-285. Based on our managed lanes portfolio experience, we see this connectivity as critical to network performance and our design provides full connectivity at both interchanges. The design also provides direct access to major cross streets, track friendly connections and further improving access across the whole corridor. In addition, the design extends the corridor to additional mileage along I-285 and at the SR 400 and I-85 connections. Overall, better access allows more drivers to use the express lanes for their everyday trips while providing a smooth connections across Atlanta's wider highway network.

Moving to the pricing framework. The objective is straightforward to maintain reliable travel times and a predictable free-flowing experience for users as traffic conditions change. The framework starts with an OTR of cap of $2.01 per mile in 2025 with a corresponding hard cap of 2x OTR of cap or $4.02 per mile. Pricing responds dynamically to real-time traffic conditions to protect travel speeds when volumes exceed 1,500 passenger car equivalents per lane per hour or speeds fall below 55 miles per hour, tolls can increase up to 2x OTR cap. This pricing response can apply not only to the affected segment but also to up to 2% segments helping this demand before congestion reaches the bottleneck.

The second important feature is the predictable growth of the OTRs of cap. The OTRs of cap increases annually at the greater of 2% or the average of nominal GSP, CPI at 3%, providing built-in escalation. In addition, the framework includes performance-based sub-cap adjustments assessed every 6 months directly linked to the service experience by users. Given the expected traffic conditions, these adjustments may play a critical role to maintain reliable travel times. A 3% congestion adjustment can apply when sustained demand keeps tolls above the soft cup, more than 20% of the defined peak periods in a segment, figuring [indiscernible] to the OTRs of cap for the entire phase.

A separate 18% targeted speed adjustment can apply when the speeds remain below 45 miles per hour, more than 10% of the defined peak periods in the segment, again, triggering an adjustment for the entire phase. The objective is to restore the target level of service. These adjustments increased the OTRs of cap itself and we did the corresponding 2x hard cap, allowing the pricing forward to adapt as traffic and congestion evolve.

Finally, vehicle class pricing protects lane capacity with toll multipliers of up to 5x for extended vehicles. Overall, these 3 mechanisms work together to manage demand, protect travel speeds and provide express lanes users with a reliable service and predictable trip.

Moving to construction and design our approach focuses on bringing forward scope while simplifying delivery and reducing execution risk. Our approach brings forward more scope with an additional 8.5 lane miles incorporated into Phases 1 and 2, while simplifying the overall phasing strategy reducing construction interfaces, remobilization and handoffs between them. Another important element is to increase and optimize access. The design incorporates broader and higher-quality connections while seeking to integrate this additional scope efficiently into the construction program.

From a structural perspective, the design also reduces the use of elevated and steel structures, which improves constructibility and supports greater schedule certainty while also reducing future maintenance requirements. Approximately 30% of [indiscernible] design development has been completed across Phases 1 and 2 with additional design award for critical components. This provides greater visibility on pricing and schedule.

The delivery platform benefits from a significant local subcontractor network, self-perform activities and more than 10 years of experience in the corridor. Inflation risk is mitigated through developer and grantor protection and additional cost contingency. The combination of more scope delivered from fuel interfaces, [indiscernible] design and a strong local delivery platform gives us greater confidence in construction execution, schedule and cost certainty.

Moving on to the next slide [indiscernible], the I-285 is supported by operating data analysis and experience from across our managed lanes portfolio, providing differentiated data insights across the key traffic and pricing variables. This allows us to benchmark the assumptions of the bid against what we have observed in operation. On traffic, we use portfolio experience to assess how capture rates change by vehicle class and time period, how connectivity affects usage of network, how quickly users adopt a [ new toll ] road and how suppress demand returns as new capacity becomes available.

Similarly on prices, we look at observe behavior around cap triggers and pricing above [ OTRs of cap ] customer response to toll rates changes and how toll segmentation and differentiated vehicles pricing can be configurated to manage demand and preserve service quality. In short, the I-285 East bid is underpinned by proprietary analysis, proven operating experience and a detailed understanding of managed lanes customer behavior in practice.

Moving on to the next steps. This slide sets out the main expected milestones for Phase 1. Commercial close is expected in December 2026. The next major milestone is financial close. The contractual deadline is October 2027, and we currently expect completion before that date. Ground breaking is expected in the first quarter 2028, with early works expected to occur between commercial and financial close ahead of the groundbreaking date. Full service commencement is expected in 2034.

As we also explained in I-24, the financing framework includes agreed interest rate protection with TDOT from bid to financial close varying by instruments. For private activity bonds, TDOT bears 100% of base rate risk and 85% of margin risk while the developer bears the remaining 15% of margin risk. For taxable debt, TDOT bears 100% of base rate risk and 85% of margin risk. The developer bears volume risk and the remaining 15% of margin risk. [indiscernible] debt, TDOT bears volume and base rate risk as shown on the slide. TDOT also requires an investment grade credit rating for the project debt bidding proposal. The overall framework provides meaningful protection against financing market movements between bid and financial close. We'll be sharing information on final concession value and final structure after financial close.

Let me close by bringing together the key messages from today's presentation. I-285 East is a highly congested multiple portion road and Atlanta's principal freight bypass. Congestion is long standing, stands across the day and affects both directions supporting a significant base of suppress demand. Atlanta Metro has solid demographic and economic growth prospects with a diversified employment base above average household income and strategic transport connectivity. Our best value award was supported by a differentiated design that is expected to serve 95% of corridor trips compared with 55% in the reference design.

The pricing framework provides significant flexibility to respond to congestion and grow pricing over time, starting with $2.01 per mile OTRs of cap based on 2025 dollars, dynamic pricing allowing real-time pricing up to 2x OTRs of cap, including annual and performance-based adjustments supporting progressive OTR growth and toll multiplayers that go up to 5x the light vehicle for extended vehicles.

The CDA provides a structured framework to negotiate and develop Phases 2 and 3. These potential phases represents an additional growth pipeline, but remain subject to separate development negotiations and our processes.

As we heard during the I-24 presentation, we have maintained our disciplined approach to capital allocation, targeting a double-digit equity IRR calibrated to the projects, risk profile and complexity, considering that these types of projects are riskier than others. We continue to have a strong balance sheet capacity, and we intend to short the funds for the equity commitments for both I-24 and Phases 1 and 2 of I-285 East mainly with cash generated in our operations and to a lesser degree with additional corporate debt, all within the framework for BBB rating and excluding any equity raise at the Ferrovial level.

Thank you for your attention, and I will now hand the presentation back to Silvia for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux.

I had a number of related questions. The first one, what led the TDOT and you to make public the concession value payment schedule for the I-24 ahead of financial close? Can we -- in this context, can we assume the schedule is a result of a negotiation that was completed with the commercial close agreement? And in relation to the I-285, should we expect a similar dynamic in terms of negotiating the schedule and recent commercial close and disclosing the structure?

Thank you, Luis, for your questions. So as you know, in all these processes, we have some NDA clauses and confidentiality that we cannot share some of the information. So that's why we did not share some this concession payments for I-24. And at the time that TDOT let us to give that information, we made it public based on the press release that they made on Monday so immediately after we communicated that information.

Regarding the I-285 East, I have to say that each of them is different, different projects that are differently negotiated. And in that specific case, you will not expect to receive any additional information on the financial close will you get all the about equity and concession payments.

And if I might squeeze in another one, a more technical one. How should we interpret the I-24 and the 285 interest risk assumed by the grantor. Is the grantor obliged to pay the excess financial expenses and interest rates deviate from commercial close guidelines until the facilities are refinanced at cheaper prices? Is that a way of looking at it or it's completely different?

Probably the way to look at it, Luis, this is Ernesto speaking is, I mean, you look at the interest rate effect on a present value basis and payments are adjusted accordingly. So it's in terms of concession value that it gets adjusted.

Our next question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I ask you first on the I-285? I think the grantor slides, we're talking about the concession payments being made during the 6 years of construction. Could you help us understand if that is set in stone or that is subject to negotiation and we could see a payment structure similar to I-24?

The second one, just to clarify on I-285 Phase 2 concession payment. I understand that you cannot disclose any value, but it's the same road in the opposite direction. You've committed to your traffic and revenue forecast. Would it be fair to assume there's a similar concession payment in order of magnitude? Or could it be there's no concession payment for Phase 2 at all? Any color just for us to understand a bit of magnitude.

And the third one, if you allow me, maybe on the NTE, I think you have now one month since the new capacity has been added and I was wondering if you can share any conclusions in terms of the net impact on the revenue growth there, less mandatory malls, more volumes? Any color you could give us at this stage?

I will take the first 2 questions, and then Ernesto will take the third one. Yes, I think that at the conference call, TDOT explained that this equal payments in the construction, but also it was noted that it may change based on the change of interest rates or the final financial structure. So final numbers, as commented previously, will not be commented until financial close. And the second question about the Phase 2, don't take assumptions that are similar. Also, yes, it's different direction, but I think it will be different type of cost in order to develop that and different type of revenues. And then the financial close will be in 2 years. So don't take for the time being any assumptions that is going to be exactly the same. It may have some [indiscernible].

Yes. I mean regarding density impact, there's very limited we can comment now. Yes, we are seeing more traffic coming back to the corridor. Regarding mandatory modes, I mean that is something that will have to be gauged next year because of how the contract is drafted after the opening. So we would be informing next year about that.

The following question comes from Harishankar Ramamoorthy from Deutsche Bank.

A couple from my side. How should we think about the I-24 legal challenge? What's the process from here on? Does the award become irreversible at some point? And if not, and if the decision gets overturned, then what's the exposure for Ferrovial? That's the first one.

And then secondly, on 407 ETR, is it fair to say that outside of the COVID period, the traffic decline there has been the steepest in the last quarter? And I do get the point on several external factors, tariffs and whatnot. But thinking about the levers that you have at your disposal, should we think about -- or rather, how should we think about price increases next year? And would you dismiss the possibility of, say, reducing the tolls?

I will take the first question about the I-24. I mean we are not worried at all about any legal challenge. Of course, we cannot comment because there is a litigation ongoing in which TDOT and the consortium that was part of this challenge. But I think they will be solved faster. And as I said at the beginning, we are not worried at all about this legal challenge.

Okay. And regarding the 407, I mean, clearly, the traffic, as I mentioned before during the presentation, has been affected by how we have managed promotions, targeted promotions and so. And we still see that the product is well valued. I mean the growth in revenues is substantial this year. We don't provide a specific guidance, but I mean, I rule out lowering prices as you were suggesting.

The next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

First of all, just a follow-up on the 5.2% discount rate. I think the question was raised earlier, but I didn't quite understand how it could be adjusted higher at financial close and the consequence on the projects in PV like at this stage. So if you could help me understand that a little bit better, please.

Second, the I285 East you got a new partner for 10%. So I think now you're at 90%. Do you look for a third partner, what's the ultimate goal there? And maybe lastly, on construction margin. Clearly, a very strong performance in Q3. You're above the 3.5% margin target. So is that 3.5% still valid target in the midterm? If you can comment on that.

Okay. So I take a -- Elodie, this is Ernesto. I'll do a little bit of further explanation on the interest rate and margin compensation. So I mean, we basically submitted financial structure with the conditions indicated that were the prevailing, let's say, at the time in terms of debt, right? So Imagine that base rates and spreads have gone up, right? And therefore, when we go to the financial close, the capital structure that we submitted now at financial close is different. It has higher interest rate and higher spreads. The grantor makes up for the increase in base rate and 85% of the of the margin. And the way that gets adjusted, there's a formula that basically says, okay, these additional payments have an NPV value of X, right? And that is what gets compensated, right? And it gets compensated with, let's say, concession value.

Regarding the second question about the partners at the 285, yes, we have 90%. That is higher than usually we used to have. So we may, at some point of time, decide to reduce our participation to more similar participation with a maturity but similar to what we have in other managed lanes. But the question is when. So we have not taken a decision. We may do it before/after financial close -- after construction. Of course, as long as you reduce the risk of this project, the value will increase. But we have not taken a decision yet. But at least, we'll consider that usually we may reduce our participation as to be more similar to what we have in other assets.

Okay. Regarding the construction margin, we've always mentioned that this is like a long-term margin average, right? So [indiscernible] some moments we could be above. Of course, there are moments we could be below. So we think that as a long-term margin, this is a reasonable margin for the Construction business.

Our following question comes from Ruairi Cullinane from RBC Capital Markets.

My first question on the I-77, do you think any of the reduced traffic year-to-date was a price elasticity impact, either they have good [indiscernible] of the leisure traffic? And secondly, perhaps you could just sort of talk about your appetite for further managed lanes following the award this year? And then back to results, what drove the improved energy performance in the quarter?

Okay. So regarding the I-77 performance, when you look into the area, just like 2 long-haul corridors for heavy traffic. I mean, one is the, i.e., the I-85 that then goes into the I-95, this Northeast corridor, and on the other hand, you have the I-77 that connects into the I-81, right? So I-81, I-85 and I-95 are kind of parallel, right? So the I-85, I-95, let's say, is more dense. What happens with the I-85 is -- sorry, the I-81 is that now it's under heavy construction, right? So we see heavy traffic that is now using the I-85 that connects into the I-95 rather than I-81.

So as long as this construction goes on, we expect heavy traffic to shift as it has been seen this year into this alternative corridor, right? When you have less heavies on the road, definitely capacity increases, right? And therefore, our capture rate suffers, right? So that could be seen as an important driver of the performance. It could last for some time. And -- but I mean in terms of should the share load region growing and so on, is still expected to grow.

Regarding the second question about -- yes, we have prequalified for the I-77 South. We are waiting for the [indiscernible] and yes, we'll participate and will bid for these new managed lanes, and we actively participate in other qualification process of additional managed lanes in the future. So yes, we have full appetite for these type of projects that we think can create very good value for the company in the future.

And regarding the question regarding the energy performance, well, I think it's the comparison between a year where still the Energy division was still developing some construction projects, some EPC plants and also transmission lines. The moment transmission lines are operating or you finalize EPC contracts, you get a better margin. So it's a matter of scale and evolution of the portfolio.

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

Can I just start with the 407 and try and dig a bit deeper into this volume decline in Q3. I mean from what it looks like and what we see the discounts that you're offering in Q3 were really pulled back. I mean that contrasts quite significantly with, I think, the strategy last year where they were really dialed up. So just trying to understand what's the rationale in thinking there? And I suppose how much of the minus 7% on volumes came from changes to the way you were offering promotions versus what you might refer to as one-off or macro weakness?

I'm just trying to sort of get my head around the pricing strategy that you're pursuing on that asset. And then my second question, if I can ask on the 285. -- the sort of references to heavy vehicle percentage on the corridor and the 5x multipliers, et cetera. I'm just trying to understand sort of apples-to-apples numbers here because as I understand that the I-285 can't take heavy vehicle traffic. But is it 10% to 12% of heavy vehicles, is that a reference to the vehicles, which can travel on the corridor? Or are you saying that, that heavy vehicle traffic on the corridor in general will drive more light vehicles onto the road? So just trying to get a sense of what percentage of vehicles in the corridor that are eligible to drive on the 285 Express Lane would qualify for the higher multiples, the 5x multiplies that you referenced in the deck? Sorry for the long question.

Okay. Thanks, Graham, for the questions. I'll take the first one on the 407. Last year, I mean, really promotions were broadly offered different times of the day, different segments could be used. Right now, we have a more targeted approach that means that there's some sort of commitment -- okay, you drive X and then you get the promotion, or I mean, the promotion is valid as long as you conclude spending some amount, that sort of thing, right?

And one idea that this was targeted is also, as you see, we have reduced the expenditure overall for the Schedule 22 with much higher revenues, right? So that means that even segments that where we were not that able steering traffic, now we are resteering traffic, right? So is a mixture of providing value for customers. They appreciate that and also just also managing the cost component, right? So that's when we mean targeted promotions that's the explanation.

And regarding the 285 and heavy and extended vehicles, the point that we were making during the presentation is that today, heavy vehicles in the 285 are around 12% to 14%. And we mentioned this figure because it's public information also and also mentioning that a few of them take the whole trip. So most of them just enter on one interchange and they exit in a different one. So shorter trips from interchange to interchange. But this type of traffic, what generates is a lot of congestion in the 285 in the general purpose lanes.

Heavy vehicles are not allowed to use the managed lanes, but extended vehicles, yes, and extended vehicles what is different here and that you need to consider is the definition first, that is broader than in other type of -- in the case of the Texas managed lanes so it's different to the I-24. So the definition of extended vehicles is broader in this case. And what is also higher is the multiplier.

And what is also relevant compared to others like SR 400 and other type of highways is that the number of extended vehicles is significant. We have not given a number for -- I mean, they want to keep intellectual property and information that we may have from other -- our own, I mean, analysis and research and knowledge, but we think that it plays a significant role because of the number and because how they behave and because the time savings for them are very relevant.

Understood. And thank you for the additional I-24 information as well.

The next question comes from Marc Ip Tat Kuen from Citi.

I've got a few, all on the I-24. The first one is just a clarification on the time line for the I-24. I think it's changed maybe a bit from the analyst call at the start of the month. Previously referred to [indiscernible] 2035, but the concession payment schedule shows your payments will start from 2036. So can you just clarify the time line there for me, please?

Second one is on the maximum, the leverage, 75%, 25% cap structure on the 2-year term sheet. Does that only apply at the commencement of operations? Or do you need to adhere to that throughout the whole of the concession? And then just the last one, which I can't remember if you shared before or not, but are you able to share what unlevered project IRR you're targeting for the [indiscernible]? Was that -- is that in the single digit or double-digit range, please?

Yes, about the first question, you understood well, is about the payment in 2036. What we think if we understood well the question is because it's the first year of operation, so the full year of operation. That's why it's the first payment. But I don't know if we are answering the question that you are asking or not fully.

In the presentation at the spin on the 5th of October, I thought the start year was 2035. Has that shifted now to 2036 as per the concession payment schedule?

Yes. The '36 is the first full year of operations. So the whole year is 2036. But the '35 will be a few years -- a few months, sorry, in operation, but not a full year. I don't know if you understand the difference.

Okay. So then -- sorry, sorry, regarding the other 2, the first one was on the TFA requirement for a minimum 25% equity. This is for financial close. I mean there's no specific condition for the project that evolves a long time. It's just for financial close. And I mean, type of IRR that we require at a project level is close to double digit. So it's super high single digit, I would say that usually, the goal is to translate in a very healthy, let's say, levered double-digit IRR, as we mentioned. But of course, for the project to be solid, you need also a very high project level IRR. So I mean it translates into something like that.

The next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

So I've got a few questions. The first one will be on 24 and on the capital structure. So you disclosed that TCR documentation permits to fund up to 75% of that project with that and only 25% of equity is required. But is that actually the capital structure that you want to pursue for the specific project. I believe historically, equity component is closer to 40%. So could you just clarify, is there a big change versus the historical run rate? My second question will be on I-285. Are there any revenue sharing clauses? I don't see anything disclosed. So do they don't exist or they are just not yet disclosed at this stage? And maybe question number three, it's a bit of an open one, but you indicated that you assess legal risk, litigation risk for this project as being very, very low, and you expect this to be resolved quickly. Any additional color, what gives you the confidence in a quick resolution, if possible?

Okay. Regarding the structure, I mean, in the past, if you recall, TIFIA did finance a more limited number of expenses by type of expense, right? Now they can -- I mean, their term sheet, as shown in the [indiscernible] presentation, covers up to 49% of different concepts, right? So they have increased the scope, right? And that is what drives the possibility of a higher leverage being how robust the TFA financing makes any structure, right? So it's that change on TIFIA scope that has changed the dynamics on leverage.

Regarding the second question about the revenue share, this is going to be something very standard, similar to what you see in other managed lanes in which when you over perform according to your base case, then you start to share with the grantor. So I think it is not going to be different to other managed lanes. And regarding the legal risk, yes, we mentioned that we are not worried. In this specific case, I mean, of course, there is litigation ongoing, and we cannot comment on give further arguments in a litigation especially that we are not part of it or we're not directly involved. So we cannot give more information about it.

Our next question comes from Eddie Diamantis from Green Street Infrastructure.

Just as an introduction, my name is Eddie Diamantis. I'm a senior reporter covering infrastructure in North America and throughout the Americas. Really excited to hear about the I-24 and I-285 transaction. So my question is more so focused on the financing for it. So I'm curious, how will the project financing for I-24 and I-285 East be structured? Who are your financial and legal advisers and who do you anticipate will provide this project financing?

Eddie, I mean, usually, we focus this call for investors and analysts, but happy to take your questions. Well, in terms of the structure, as I mentioned before, the that component, the main driver is TIFIA funds. And then we have private activity bonds that basically have been allocated to the states and they provide a number that could be used. And then taxable bonds.

But as I said, the main component is the TIFIA financing. This -- let's say, taxable bond and so are assessed through with financial advisers, financial advisers are not made public but they provide a view of what is the, let's say, the market appetite or capacity when we submit the bid, right? But as I said, the bulk of it is TIFIA. And then, of course, the remaining is the equity. And then the last -- okay. So I think that, that answers your question, hopefully.

Yes. Yes. And just so I understand, too, and I understand this is for investors, might be a little out of place here. But in terms of who will provide this financing for these private activity bonds and taxable bonds, those will be listed on public markets?

Oh, yes, yes. This is the capital markets transaction, and this is the useful muni bond issuance and taxable bonds that are capital markets listed and [indiscernible] with the prospectus, everything is public financing.

Awesome. Great. And you mentioned before that you'll have full appetite for other P3 projects. Could you confirm any other projects that you're looking at besides I-77 in the United States?

Well, we will comment when they come to basically a request for qualifications or something like that at that point in time and when we tend to make this public. So thanks [indiscernible] I mentioned before, this is more for investors and analysts. So thanks for attending.

The following question comes from Jose Manuel Arroyas from Santander.

I have 3. The first one is on the I-285 East. I wanted to come to [indiscernible] earlier question and to get a clarification. The other day, the Georgia Department of Transportation set the concession fees have to be paid in 7 installments. I just wanted to clarify, is there a possibility? Or is there not that at financial close or maybe sooner this schedule of 7 payments can be changed and be eventually spread over the concessional life like I-24? That's question number one.

Then question number 2 is on I-24 and the revenue sharing payments, which are based on IRRs. Just to get a sense of how likely these payments may be or they may not be, is the IRR triggers here? Are they higher or lower than, for instance, on I-66?

And lastly, on NTO, I mean you've mentioned that there has been a change to the start of the development of Phase 1B and 1C. And I understood this was at the request of the Port Authority, would the concession be extended to make up for the 3-year delay?

Yes. Thank you, Jose. I will start with the 285 and the 6 payments during construction. Yes, this is what was mentioned from TDOT. And also in the same presentation, it was mentioned that it may change based on the difference in the interest rates and also final financial structures. Just repeating what they were saying at that time, nothing more to be said.

And as commented at the end we'll see -- at the end of financial close, we'll see the final numbers. Regarding the revenue, sir, and [indiscernible] to access that. I think that it will reach the revenue share. I think all of us will be very happy because it means the I-24 is outperforming. But hopefully, it's the case that is outperforming and hopefully, we reach at that level. But if that's the case, I think that it is performing even better than some of the other managed lanes that we have today.

One regarding the potential extension of NTO, no, that's not part of the contract at this point in time.

The next question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I ask on the current portfolio, based on what you've been saying earlier, I think I-77, there are some headwinds on the heavy -- from the heavy trucks moving away from the corridor. I think you mentioned you're lapsing a bit the technology benefit in Dallas in terms of pricing, better segmenting pricing capacity is unclear as the impact on revenue. This free level seems to be a bit of a headwind or suggest a bit of a deceleration in the pace of revenue growth. My question is a bit, what's offsetting that? Maybe could you talk a little bit about the positives, I guess, LBJ traffic is good, but I'm trying to understand if going forward for the next few quarters, what are the headwinds and the tailwinds that you see in front?

The second one, if you allow me, what's the range of cost of equity for this type of projects like I-24 to I-285. I guess at this point, when we have construction risk and traffic ramp up risk and once we derisk them. Could you help us with a bit of a range on appropriate cost of equity there?

And the third one and the last one is just a small clarification. Apologies, I come back to the [I-285 Phase 2 ]. Just for us to understand the mechanism how the concession payment is determined, is it correct that you've committed to your revenue forecast through Phase 2? You've committed to CapEx forecast as well as the fact that the equity IRR that you are able to earn there cannot be higher than Phase 1. So therefore, by back solving against these 3 data points the concession payment due to the grant will be calculated in this way. Is my understanding correct in big lines? Or am I missing anything?

Several investors believe there's no concession payment related to Phase 2. So I just wanted to -- or there's a very symbolic one. Just wanted to understand a bit the direction of trouble.

Okay. So in terms of revenues, I mean, going on. Yes, you are right that the is showing, I mean, the corridor increase and that improves our performance after the opening of the [indiscernible] that should keep going up. Then in terms of the I-66, also, we see that the corridor is growing more than we expected. Probably there's developments to the west part of the corridor -- I mean, in the [indiscernible], it was more concentrated on the eastern part, very closer to the [indiscernible] so that is also driving some strong support growth there.

In Canada, we mentioned that this has been a year very super soft in terms of economic performance. So as the economic growth returns, population gross returns those are drivers that helped to the growth over there. So I mean those are good drivers of growth.

In terms of other news, yes, we will be facing out the technology impact on the Dallas-Fort Worth concessions. The economy there, the background growth continues to be good. So as the areas keep growing, also revenue growth keeps performing, right? So I would say that's a good balance for the current portfolio. And well, the cost of equity -- it's a very good question. I mean if we take most of the business plans that we are seeing in the market, that are well below [indiscernible] was probably that would merit a very low discount rate single digit after opening, right? So we'll see. I mean, the [indiscernible] itself for that.

Regarding the question about the Phase 2, in this phase, it's true that we gave a traffic and revenue numbers that they don't need to be the same as the Phase 1 first. The same with the CapEx. So also, we gave a figure of CapEx that can be adjustable for inflation and other factors that does not have to be the same as a Phase 1, so it could be a different number that you put in the bid offer. And then the financial close will happen in 2029. So many things could happen until then. So extrapolating that Phase 2 is going to be the same as Phase 1, it's not the case.

And all what we said is that you have to wait until that time in order to understand the numbers and the figures and we cannot say that it's going to be the same of the Phase 1, and you have to wait until then because it's a long period of time, and many things will happen until then.

The next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

Thanks for the many presentations today. I have 4 questions. The first one is on the I-285 project. How likely is that Ferrovial will get an additional partner for this project, let's say, in the next -- before the road opens? Second question, what happens if you don't find a partner before financial close? Would Ferrovial still sign the contract? Could you walk away from it?

Third question, regarding the I-24 payment share, it seems that payment is very back-end loaded. So is it reasonable to expect that this fixed concession payment will be less than $200 million once the road opens in 2036? And then rises progressively towards EUR 5 billion and EUR 10 billion by the end of the concession?

And then last question regarding the discount rate that you have agreed with TDOT [indiscernible] calculation for these concession payments. It's a 5.2% planned average discount rate, if I understand correctly. How did you set this discount rate because it seems quite low?

Okay. Thank you, Dario, about the partners as commented previously, no, we have not taken a decision when we are going to incorporate partners and that if they incorporate different periods of time, the pricing will be different also it is after the restart operation -- after it starts operations, then of course, you have the risk most of it and you have revenues and then the value of the road at that time will be much higher. And of course, if you do it after financial close, you have the risk a lot also the financial risk that you may have at that point of time.

So what I say is that we may reduce, we don't know when. And of course, depending on when we do it, the value will be different and we'll ask for a premium that will be different depending on the timing of the sale of our participation. In case of no partners and that we can walk away independently. So it's not that we need partners in order to reach financial close. We can do it without additional partners. But always, we have the option to withdraw, but we don't see that as a probability because we think that this may be a good project for us.

And regarding the I-24 about your assumption that we gave present value numbers and you can take your assumption with this number on the discount rate. I'm sure that you are not going to be very far away because it's not a big range of difference that you may have. And the discount rate is based on TIFIA is taken as a reference is what is the TIFIA cost for these type of projects.

The following question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux.

Leaving funding firepower side from a risk and resource management perspective, is there a limit to the number of used managed lane projects that you can simultaneously develop?

Well, I think that -- I agree with you that the main risk is related to construction and to have the resources to do all these projects at the same time and it's something that we need to see if we are prepared or we may bring partners in order to develop some of those projects. So we'll see. For the time being for these 2 projects, we can do it ourselves with the capabilities that we have. In others one, if we feel that we may need additional resources, we may partner with others, but it's a decision that we need to take later on. Not today. But we feel comfortable with these 2 managed lanes and also bidding for the I-77 South, where we have experienced before in the geography in this place that we developed previously the I-77.

The next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

So I have 2 quick ones. On the 407 ETR, the asset, I believe, increased the dividend by about 40% for 2026, would you say the asset has already reached its optimal capital structure after this dividend hike? Or there is more to do on releveraging into 2027? And could you remind us what are the key credit metrics that we should monitor to determine whether there is room for further leverage or not?

And my second question, going back to the new managed lanes, how should we think about the timing of equity injections into these 2 very large projects? Ultimately, is there anything significant that would be actually injected before 2030 as you ramp up construction? Or is it very back-end loaded?

Thanks, Marcin. I'll take the -- this is Ernesto. I'll take the 407 question. Well, probably -- I mean, the metric -- the credit metric that matters most for the 407, is the debt service coverage ratio, and that's around 2.6%. So you can see that there's always room. As I've always mentioned, don't expect big banks in the 407, but definitely, I mean, it's super solid, right? So you have a good angle there.

Related -- the last question is most of the cash flows are back ended, so limited -- very limited before 2030, and most of them, '33, '34, even '35, so a long period of time. .

Our last question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley.

Yes. Just a couple going back a bit on the details of the I-285, I know you don't want to give much on the light vehicle, the light trucks. But at least a ballpark figure, whether this -- the traffic for these guys is actually relevant. Are you talking about 1%, 2% traffic, I know, 5%, 10%, 15% because this changes a lot of the economics, especially with the tariff multiplier. That would be very helpful.

Second one, is -- in what scenario do you not get the Phase 2 on I-285? I mean, it doesn't have to be armageddon, but in which scenario would you basically walk away from where you promised the TDOT? And then can you help us understand on the [indiscernible] front, how you expect the, let's say, the extra kickers on mandatory pricing to come in? So I think you've got the plus 3% or the plus 18%. How realistic is this? How central is it to your bidding?

And then the final point on TIFIA, I mean, I may be misunderstood, but I thought TIFIA was basically -- I mean, all the infra projects, state level get into a [indiscernible] and basically you share the availability of TIFIA on an annual basis. Your 2 projects here is they're mostly funded by TIFIA will require a TIFIA quantum, which is 2, 3, 4, 5x greater than what the SR 400 did. So I'm not entirely sure where you see the capacity of the TIFIA market for your 2 projects, but most likely I'm wrong. But please enlighten me, that would be very helpful.

So asking this question -- you're answering your question. First about the extended vehicles, as we said in the presentation, is we see a meaningful presence of extended vehicles and also, we commented compared to the SR 400 that materially higher, no extended vehicles exposure. And it's something that we have seen also in our Dallas managed lanes, we have tested this, how relevant this could be. And I think that there could be a relevant thing. And as I commented previously, how they are defined and what is the multiplier, and also, they are usually business, and they are -- probably behave, I mean, differently when you talk about time savings.

Phase 2 is -- I think it's going to add also value and still a long period of time in order to be negotiated and to reach a financial close, but we expect that it's going to create value for the company, but of course, at some point of time, we may withdraw we think is not the case. And this increase of the mechanism in which you can increase every 6 months, the soft cap by 3% that you can do it, so 6% in total during the year or if it's related to the speed that is 18%.

As we have commented this, what we see in this 285 that is today highly congested. It has been highly congested for the last 10 years. So there's a lot of suppress demand that is not using it because there is not a reality at all. And what we see also is the short distance trips in the corridor. And as commented, I mean, we see a lot of business here like extended vehicles. We see also high income per capita. So I think that all these ingredients, what may happen is that [indiscernible] in order to improve the level of service to apply these things. And we expect that this is something that will happen and that is because it's highly congested. So it's going to be relevant.

And it's a mechanism that is going to help us in order to maintain the level of service at the managed lanes that because of the ingredients that we commented previously, this is highly congested for [indiscernible], it's 4 or 5 hours of peak time. So I think it's relevant the level of congestion and it will happen that the level of service is going to be not so good in these managed lanes because of the reasons that I explained before.

And regarding TIFIA is not for us to tell what would be the capacity. The way the contract works, if there's not and the amount of TIFIA that we are requiring in the proposal, the grantor has to come up with how to sort out that risk, right? So as I said, it's not for us to discuss the capacity.

There are no further questions at the conference call at this time. I will now hand it back to Silvia Ruiz at the Ferrovial team. Your line is now open.

Thank you. I will start reading the questions from the webcast. First question comes from Dominic [indiscernible]. Given the recent I-24 and I-285 concession awards, how should we think about the balance sheet between growing cash distributions from your existing infrastructure assets and the equity funding requirements for new projects over the next 3 to 5 years, specifically, how much cash do you expect to remain available for shareholder returns?

As commented previously, the equity needed for these 2 projects is very back ended, is starting most of it the large amounts, 33%, 34%. So it's very long dated. And meanwhile, I mean, we'll continue getting distribution from the dividends and cash collected from the business and I mean, regular rotations that we do with mature assets. So all this, of course, what we used to do is we have a 10-year plan. We analyzed what is going to be the commitments that we have, what is expected, I mean, the cash that we are going to get. And based on that, the Board every year takes a decision about what is going to be the dividends for shareholders. Historically, we have given dividends to shareholders even during COVID. But we want to keep this flexibility depending on how the situation may change in a period of time.

Next question comes from Lucas [indiscernible] Capital. Following the recent decrease in the company's share price, how do you view your buyback strategy? Are you, for example, considering accelerating the repurchase of your shares to take advantage of the price?

Okay. You know that we have on place buyback program. The buyback program complies with all the market abuse regulations, right? So we don't look to the particular execution. It has agreed -- so there's a bank mandated that has agreed. And if the share is lower, we buy more shares. So definitely, that's taking into account and there's more buyback with lower share prices. So we are taking advantage of the lower prices, yes.

I have 2 questions here from Filipe Leite from CaixaBank BPI. First question, I-24, regarding the payment schedule of the operating period, what is the difference between investment-grade graded payments discounted at between 5% and 5.5% and the USD 0.5 billion outside investment grade rating discounted at 8%?

Well, basically, when we submit the bid, TIFIA funding requires to investment-grade ratings for the debt structure, right? So basically, you there have all the senior payments, right? That means that the bulk of all these payments are senior and they are discounted as Ignacio explained before, with costs that are similar to the TIFIA cost. So the -- I would say the investment in rating means these payments are junior to the rest of the debt payments and these payments to the to the grantor. And therefore, they have -- they are small, but they have a higher discount rate naturally.

And second question from Filipe as well. Do I-24 and the I-285 have any kind of cost for the early termination of the contracts? And yes, how will the prices be set for these early termination process?

Thank you, Filipe. This is a very standard. It's fair market value as we have in most of our contracts. So it's close that is similar and standard in -- for the industry.

Last question on the webcast comes from [indiscernible]. On Page 6, you said the dividend [indiscernible] notice to proceed, which has a deadline of June 2033 instead of [indiscernible]. So Ferrovial can't receive a cent from JFK and [indiscernible] second expansion? In what year do you now expect the first distribution from NTO and is there any time-based fallback if [indiscernible] is never launched?

Okay. So no dividends can be distributed until June 2033. You're right. I mean, it's in line with the [indiscernible] by NTO following the delay of the Phase B1 construction September 2030. So I mean we don't provide guidance on dividends. [indiscernible] issue the notice to proceed for Phase 2 no later than June 2033. And there is no fallback any modification to this commitment must be discussed and agreed with the port authority.

Okay. There's one last question coming on the webcast from Roberto [indiscernible]. When can we expect the new business plan?

We are working on it, and we'll take to the Board for approval at the end of December. So it will be in place at beginning of next year because the one that we have [indiscernible] until 2026. But we have not decided is how and when we will communicate it externally. Although of course, internally, we really giving some guidance about what we want to do in the following years.

Okay. I think it's -- there are no further questions.

Well, thank you very much all of you for your participation in this results conference call and also the presentation of the I-24 and I-285. And again, thank you very much, all of you. Bye.

Good morning or afternoon, everybody. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking. And I would like to welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the recently awarded I-24 project in Nashville. I am joined here today by our CEO, Ignacio Madridejos and our CFO, Ernesto López Mozo. Just a reminder presentation has been made available on our website.

[Operator Instructions] Before starting, please take a moment to review the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. So actual figures may differ.

With all this, I will hand over to Ignacio. Ignacio, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia, and hello, everyone. Today, I will present the I-24 Choice Lanes project in Tennessee, an important milestone for Ferrovial with the potential to create significant value. We're selected to deliver the project in August, reached commercial closing on the 30th of September, and now we are working on the financial close.

The I-24 Choice Lanes is Tennessee's largest ever capital investment and its first public-private partnership transportation project. The corridor extends 26 miles between Nashville and Murfreesboro from the I-40 area to 840. The project will add 2 choice lanes in each direction alongside the 4 existing general purpose lanes. The project is a 50-year design, build, finance, operate and maintain concession. TDOT retains responsibility for customer service, toll collection and maintenance of the 4 existing general purpose lanes that remain toll-free. The project has an estimated construction cost of approximately $9.2 billion with an expected 8-year construction period and service commencement expected in 2034.

Turning to the corridor fundamentals. Let me start with the growth profile of the Nashville area. Nashville is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, supported by robust demographic and economic fundamentals. The region has consistently exceeded macroeconomic growth expectations, which reinforces our confidence in the project. The metropolitan area reached approximately 2.2 million residents in 2025, following sustained population growth of around 2% per year over the last decade.

Over the last 10 years, real GDP grew at a 4.6% compound annual rate, while median household income reached approximately $88,800 in 2025, around 9% above the U.S. average. The region combines a diversified economy, a deep talent pool supported by more than 20 universities, a strong graduate retention and continued corporate investment and relocations.

Today, Nashville is home to 5 Fortune 500 headquarters and has attracted 35 corporate relocations since 2018, further strengthening employment and economic activity. Growth across logistics, technology, finance, health care and entertainment continues to reinforce the region's economic resilience and long-term competitiveness. These demographic, employment and economic trends are important drivers of long-term travel demand and support the attractiveness of the I-24 corridor.

Moving on to the next slide, I-24 is a gateway corridor serving multiple economic and mobility needs across the region. The corridor is a key freight and logistics route. Nashville is 1 of only 6 U.S. cities where 3 major interstate highways converge and heavy vehicles account for approximately 12% to 16% of corridor traffic. I-24 forms part of the Atlanta to Chicago and St. Louis freight corridor linking the Southeast and Midwest with around 50% of large trucks traveling long distances.

Beyond freight, the corridor supports daily travel demand along the Nashville to Murfreesboro growth axis, serving a fast-growing residential area and providing access to Nashville. The corridor also provides direct access to Nashville International Airport, which handled a record 26.7 million passengers in fiscal year 2026 and has grown at an 8% annual rate over the last 10 years. Our analysis shows that users travel approximately 10 miles per trip on average, while truck trips are longer than the corridor average underscoring the corridor's importance for both regional connectivity and freight activity.

Development activity has also been significant with approximately 178 million square feet of new developments along the corridor between 2020 and 2026. Overall, these demand drivers position I-24 as a strategic corridor underpinned by multiple and diversified sources of traffic demand, supporting the long-term fundamentals of the project.

On the next slide, we can see the scale and persistence of the corridor's congestion challenge. The corridor currently carries approximately 150,000 to 190,000 vehicles per day. The analysis shows approximately 8 to 11 hours of congestion on a typical weekday with peak conditions lasting around 4 hours in each direction and speeds falling below 20 miles per hour. The heat maps compare weekday traffic conditions in 2016 and 2026. Areas sound red colors indicate more severe congestion and longer delays.

What is important is not only the intensity of congestion, but also its expansion across the corridor. Compared with 2016, congestion today is more intensive, lasts longer during the day and affects both directions of travel over longer stretches of the corridor. The maps also show that congestion is no longer limited to traditional peak periods with traffic conditions remaining constrained for much of the day. The westbound morning peak illustrates the geographic extent of the bottleneck across the corridor. Under current traffic conditions, users can experience delays of 36 minutes during peak periods. The new managed lanes will help to alleviate congestion, thereby bringing a reliable option to local residents.

Looking ahead to 2034, when the asset is expected to begin operations, the traffic case is supported by 3 factors: expected strong regional growth, latent demand currently constrained by limited capacity and the gradual user adoption we typically observe following capacity expansion. Starting with the regional outlook, the slide shows third-party forecast compound annual growth from 2025 to 2034 of approximately 1% for population, 2.1% for real income per capita and 2.8% for real GDP.

One important point to highlight, as mentioned in previous slide, is that Nashville has consistently exceeded previous macroeconomic growth forecast. This track record provides additional support for the region's long-term growth fundamentals. We also see evidence of suppressed demand along the corridor. Between 2010 and 2024, traffic grew by approximately 1% annually in the northern section of I-24 compared with more than 3% growth in sections where capacity is available. The most congested areas exhibit the lowest observed growth. This pattern shows demand being shifted to other routes or other times.

This suggests there is latent demand that can return to the corridor once additional capacity becomes available. Based on that, we expect a fast period of initial user adoption. According to our experience in our managed lanes portfolio, users typically take approximately 2 to 3 years to become familiar with a new route configuration and the benefits it provides. Together, expected regional growth, the release of suppressed demand and anticipated progressive user adoption support the traffic assumptions for the asset following its expected opening in 2034.

Turning now to connectivity. This is one of the principal differentiators of our design as stated by TDOT. When comparing the TDOT reference design with the DriveTN design, the number of interchanges connected more than doubles from 7 to 15. With that, the share of corridor trips in scope increases from approximately 70% in reference design to 90% (sic) [ 95% ] in our design, which represents 1.4x more in scope trips than under the reference design. Entries and exits increased from approximately 0.8 per mile to approximately 1.2 per mile.

The design includes more direct connectors instead of T-ramps and longer acceleration lanes designed to accommodate heavy vehicles entering safer at speed. These features make it easier for users to access the choice lanes across the corridor and create greater connectivity and thereby travel convenience. At the same time, the optimized design reduces right-of-way requirements and lowers community impacts. Overall, the design allows more trips to access the choice lanes with greater travel convenience for users and fewer impacts on surrounding communities.

Moving to the pricing framework. The objective is to manage congestion and preserve reliable travel times as traffic conditions change. I-24 uses dynamic pricing that responds to real-time demand with no ceiling rates. The pricing framework establishes a soft toll cap and pricing goes above the soft cap when defined traffic or speed conditions are met. Toll rates above the soft cap can increase without a defined formula and with no maximum.

Above certain pricing levels, a portion of the revenue is shared with TDOT. The developer retains 100% of toll revenues up to $3.2 per mile. Above that level, revenue is shared with TDOT through the bands shown on the slide. The developer retains 50% between $3.2 and $4.8, 25% between $4.8 and $6.4 and 10% above $6.4. The main soft toll cap starts at $1.6 per mile. There is also a lower soft cap of $0.8 per mile when volumes are below 500 passenger car equivalents per lane per hour. Although, most traffic across our portfolio operates above that level.

The soft cap escalates annually at the greater of 2.5% or the average of Tennessee GDP growth, U.S. CPI and 3%. An uncapped pricing event may be triggered when traffic exceeds 1,500 passenger car equivalents per lane per hour or when speed falls below 55 miles per hour. This is substantially easier to surpass based on our experience improving level of service to users. In addition, when a trigger is reached on one segment, above soft cap pricing may also apply in the preceding segment. This allows the pricing response to extend across connected sections of the corridor, helping manage congestion before it spreads further throughout the network.

Heavy vehicles are subject to high pricing multiples from 3x for extended vehicles to 8x for large trucks. These multiples reflect the greater capacity used by larger vehicles. Overall, the combination of dynamic pricing, preceding segment pricing, annual escalation and differentiated heavy vehicle multipliers provides substantial operating flexibility while keeping the framework focused on reliable service for users.

Our projections for I-24 are grounded in extensive benchmarking against our existing managed lanes portfolio. NTE 35 West is the most relevant comparable, particularly given its similar traffic mix. Importantly, if the I-24 pricing framework and connectivity were applied to NTE 35 West current traffic profile is revenues per lane per mile will significantly increase. While this is an illustrative comparison and not intended as a forecast, it provides additional support for the I-24 pricing framework and together with our operating experience supports our confidence in the assumptions underlying our projections and expected returns adequate for the risk of the project.

Let me now turn to the project's construction and the measures we have taken to improve delivery visibility and reduce project impacts while mitigating inflation risk. Our innovative outside lane design is aimed at improving connectivity while reducing construction costs and minimizing disruption to existing users and surrounding communities. Approximately 30% of advanced design development has already been completed, increasing engineering visibility and pricing confidence. The delivery plan benefits from an early engagement with a significant local subcontract network and the capabilities to self-perform some activities. Inflation risk is mitigated through developer and grant protections together with additional cost contingency.

Moving on to the next slide. Our managed lanes operational expertise provides differentiated know-how and unique operating insights and benchmarks. Estimating revenue requires a detailed understanding of several key variables. And this is where our data analysis and insights from our operating portfolio give us differentiated perspective. Specifically, there are important factors such as actual capture rates by vehicle type and time periods, the impact of connectivity and network access and how to increase in scope traffic, how quickly users adopt a new route configuration and how to improve capture rates, understanding suppressed demand and how traffic returns when additional capacity becomes available.

Understanding how often pricing moves above the soft cap, how long it lasts and how users respond, estimating customer response to toll rate changes and understanding how segmentation configuration can be optimized to manage demand and maintain service quality. I would also like to mention that the bid has been also supported by partners. And our consortium includes the 2 most experienced managed lanes operators, bringing complementary knowledge to both underwriting and the future operation of the asset. In short, the I-24 bid is underpinned by extensive proprietary data analysis, proven operating experience and a detailed understanding of how managed lanes customers behave in practice.

Turning to future enhancements, the congestion creates a structural path to consider additional extensions over time. These potential enhancements were not included in the bid or in our projections. The agreement provides a structured path to develop potential northern, eastern and southern enhancements with TDOT. Any development is subject to TDOT approval. The developer holds the right to begin negotiations with TDOT. I-24 and any negotiated enhancements will form one connected network. The North enhancement is identified as the first potential enhancement in the development sequence.

Moving now to the next steps. This slide sets out the main milestones from commercial close through service commencement. As you all know, commercial close was completed on the 30th of September. The next major milestone is financial close. The contractual deadline is July 2027, and we currently expect completion before that date. Ground breaking is expected in early 2029 with design and early construction works expected to start after financial close. Service commencement is expected in 2034 when the 50-year concession term will begin.

In terms of interest rates, protection from the bidding submission up until the financial close, the financing framework includes agreed protection for base rate risk and a substantial portion of margin risk from bid through financial close varying by debt instrument. For private activity bonds and taxable bonds, TDOT bears all base rate risk and 85% of margin risk. The developer bears the remaining 15% of margin risk and the volume risk for taxable bonds.

For TIFIA debt, TDOT keeps the risk of both amount and base rate risk. TDOT requires an investment-grade credit rating for the project debt bidding proposal. We cannot disclose information about equity and debt requirements or concessional payments until financial close due to confidentiality rules. Once we reach financial close, we'll be sharing information on concession value and financial structure that it is expected to provide adequate returns to equity even for third-party projected revenues below our internal projections. This is expected to be a solid project with adequate returns even under more negative scenarios.

Let me close by bringing together the key messages from today's presentation. I-24 serves a highly congested corridor with multipurpose demand and a favorable pricing framework to manage congestion and preserve reliable travel time. Solid demographic, employment, and economic growth prospects support the long-term outlook for the Nashville region. The differentiated design, advanced engineering and disciplined construction assumptions are aimed to support cost efficiency and risk mitigation. The bid is supported by operating insights and extensive experience across our managed lanes portfolio.

We have maintained our disciplined approach to capital allocation, targeting a double-digit equity IRR calibrated to the project's risk profile and complexity, considering that this type of project is riskier than others. We also have a strong balance sheet capacity, and we intend to source the funds for the equity commitments for this project and if successful, I-285 in Atlanta, mainly with cash generated in our operations and to a lesser degree with additional corporate debt, all within the framework of our BBB rating and excluding any equity raise at the Ferrovial level.

We believe the market is at risk of overestimating the equity requirements of the I-24. Details will be disclosed upon financial close. Lastly, we are excited about the attractive pipeline, and we are looking forward to the new managed lanes opportunities ahead, including I-285 East and I-77 South. Thank you for your attention, and I will now hand the presentation back for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I please ask you in terms of the capture rates, roughly, could you give us an idea, I think based on public information, it seems that in Texas, your capture rates of the general purpose traffic is around 17% to 28%. I don't know if that's correct, but can you give us a bit of your expectations here?

Secondly, how many years does it -- do you believe ballpark? How many years does it take to reach 1,500 vehicles per lane hour? Just any color you could help us there. And in terms of the long-haul trucking, is it fair to assume that it could be more volatile than local traffic as there are more different options to choose when going for long-haul traffic rather than local traffic that is captured in the area? Do you agree or disagree maybe with this?

Cristian. About the different questions that you asked, the first about capture rates. No, we are not disclosing, as you know, any information about our managed lanes. But of course, the information that we have from the managed lanes that we are operating today was taken as a base, as a reference for the bid that we have submitted and the estimated revenues, but we are not disclosing today any information about that.

I was not clear about the second question. I think the traffic that you commented, 150,000, this is the information that was submitted by the TDOT. And it was the information, if I remember well, of 2025. So I don't know well what you were asking about that question specifically. And about -- yes, go ahead.

Sorry, just to apologies, I didn't express my question very clear. I was talking about the soft cap. I think the soft cap is reached when per hour per lane, there are 1,500 vehicles. In regards to that, roughly, how many years do you think it could take to reach that type of traffic per hour per lane and trigger the soft cap above $1.6 per mile?

So yes, sorry, because I didn't -- I misunderstood you. So I understand that you are meaning about the soft cap. What we did honestly is take how -- what we are seeing now in our managed lanes, especially when we have the soft cap, that is the case of Dallas and applying with this level of traffic to this specific case. So what we -- our estimates are based on what we are seeing today. But we are not disclosing how we are seeing it. But as we commented, it's substantially easier to surpass. So compared to what we have in Dallas for our managed lanes today, that is a higher number. This also looks closer to the previous one is substantially easier to surpass under any situation.

And of course, I mean, we have this reference with 407 and other assets that we have. Regarding long haul, yes, what -- the difference is that in this case, it's more related to the U.S. GDP, but it's a route that is actually being used very frequently and it's a corridor that is essentially used and is the main alternative as commented previously for some routes. But it's not the only source of traffic to the corridor because as commented, this is a logistic area with some short hauls, I mean, distance in the area, logistics center in the area and also is a lot of commuters and also all the traffic and airports.

So I think we see that it's very solid in terms of growth because there are different sources, both linked to Nashville and how it's growing in terms of population and economic activity and also related to the U.S. GDP as could be more the long-haul traffic.

Our next question comes from Patrick Creuset from Goldman Sachs.

Can you hear me?

Yes. We can hear you.

Three questions, please. First is just to better understand, without being very specific in rough proportions, the $24.8 billion concession value promised to TDOT. Would it be correct to say that out of that $25 billion roughly, there's some upfront payment? And then when I look at your Slide 9, that the bulk of that concession value would come essentially from revenue sharing payments? And then also, are they basically referring to future value? Or is the discounted value of revenue sharing payments that you take into account?

Patrick, I think you are missing things what is the concession value that as we have commented previously, is something that will be disclosed at the time of the financial close. So we cannot give any additional information. What you have in Page 9 is what you are sharing above a certain -- when you are above the 1,500 that you are above the soft cap, then you can increase -- I mean, it's your decision, how much and how fast you can increase to certain levels the price. And if you are certain thresholds, then you share something with the grantor. But this is independently of any concession value.

Right. Are you saying this would come on top of the concession value you've committed? So when I look at the 50%, 75%, 90% profit shares potentially at higher price points, that would come on top of the $25 billion? Or is it included somewhere in the $25 billion? That's all I'm asking.

I will say that it is independently of the concession value. And if you go above those numbers.

Okay. Second question, the soft cap of $1.60, is that a future value, i.e. like a 2035 value or value today that inflates until you start collecting tolls?

It's a 2025 value.

And inflates until 2035?

Yes.

Third question is regarding the mandatory mode trigger level of 1,500 vehicles per hour, is that calculated alongside the entire road? Or can you look at specific segments of the road and then basically trigger on parts of the road depending on traffic level?

It's triggered by segment and as commented, then it's triggered also for the preceding segment. So in one segment, you are reaching this 1,500 or 55 miles per hour that both of them are below what we see in the Texas managed lanes, then it's triggered in that segment. And then you can go above the $1.6 cap, and you can apply that not only to that specific segment, but also to the preceding segment.

Our next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

Actually, just one question on construction cost risk. The $9.2 billion, is this a fixed price? And can you explain to us exactly what is the potential risk for Ferrovial here? Like if let's say this construction goes from $9 billion, it's $1 billion more. How much would be absorbed by Ferrovial?

Yes. This is -- as you know, the construction cost is something that we estimate by 3 teams independently and with a quite advanced design, 30% that is unusual in these specific cases, and we have been working for this project for a long period of time and also with understanding what is the local supply chains and getting quotations from them and also analyzing our self-performing activities.

And with that, we came with a fixed price that has some inflation risk mitigated by the developer and by the grantor to a fixed amount and then with the contingencies. In that price, we built enough contingencies, of course, for the risk that we see today and also for things that potentially we don't know. So we feel comfortable with this price that is a fixed price, but also has some mitigation in case of pricing escalations as commented previously.

And so -- but if there is a cost overrun, how is that split between the partners?

This is a fixed price as commented with some escalations, yes. And if the price is at the end, you have a profit or loss is the construction company who bears the risk, yes.

And can I just ask a quick one, just a follow-up on the previous question. The $24.8 billion payment, is that an NPV calculation? Or is it a nominal amount?

No. As commented previously, this -- we cannot disclose any figure right now, and we have to wait to see with the financial close. We have some confidentiality agreement as commented, and we cannot disclose anything more about that.

The next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

So I have still a few follow-ups and more questions. So on the -- you mentioned that the start of the concession will be at the end of the construction phase. So does that mean that if there are delays in the construction phase, the 50-year start will be delayed as well? Second, is there any way you could share a bit of information that you think that competitors were missing in their bids to explain the difference in the bid level there?

Third, what additional information would you provide at financial close? Would you get us some idea on IRR that you target? And could you share with us already how the debt to equity split? Is it 2/3 debt, 1/3 equity? Is that assumption fair? And then lastly, unrelated to that, but I think important, do you have a partner for the I-285 East project now that Transurban is out?

Okay. I will answer the first 2 questions, and then Ernesto will comment about what happened information about financial close. Yes, the 50 years commenced at the time of starting operations. So it will be whenever. If it's early, it's early and if it's later, it's later. Regarding the competitors, of course, it's highly speculative because we don't know exactly what they did. One of the things that you should consider is how competitive the bids were in the sense if they have capital limitations or other kind of limitations when they place the bids.

Some of them could have been bids just to get the stipend that is paid for presenting the bid. It's very difficult to know what level of information and benchmark they could do about managed lanes, especially with this pricing mechanism that is very different to previous ones. So it's very difficult to try to extrapolate this situation to other, I mean, managed lanes and try to get some values. But as I mentioned, it's highly speculative. What I can tell is what we did. We presented an offer that we expect is going to create a lot of value for the company and even an offer that, as we commented that we expect that also financial close, it will be -- will get an adequate return even in situations that are more negative than our assumptions as the ones that we have seen in the market.

And for partners, I think for the I-285, well, this is something that I don't know what has been disclosed. Of course, we have communicated that Transurban decided a long time ago not to continue and that they will continue with Tikehau. It does not mean that at some point, we may bring other partners, could be before commercial close or could be after financial close or could be when we open the managed lanes, but we can always incorporate partners at different times, of course, at different prices, too. And then with that, Ernesto, you can comment about the information disclosed financial.

Yes, thanks. So normally, at financial close, you will have the IRR that is the output of what is called the escrow business plan. That's usually what you see, right? And of course, there will be also an opportunity to apply the capital structure to other sorts of projections that are in the market, as Ignacio mentioned before, and you will then see the returns that can be achieved even in that downside projections.

The next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

Just 2 questions from me. First one, you mentioned in the final remarks slide, the attractive pipeline of new opportunities ahead. Should we take that to mean that obviously, you've got a bid on for the 285. If you were to win that, do you feel like you would be comfortable with your current balance sheet to fund that as well? And then if you were to win 285 as well, would you -- should we assume you would still pursue additional opportunities in the U.S. like the I-77 South?

And then second question, I just wanted to ask, you mentioned a couple of times that your IRR analysis was obviously adjusted for the scale and risk of the project. I don't know if there's any more color you can add to that just insofar as thinking this is a project which is sort of an order of magnitude larger than, if not more of your existing projects, how you adjusted your risk assessment to accommodate that and ensure you achieve your targeted returns even in sort of downside scenarios?

Thank you, Graham. I will answer the first question about the pipeline. And yes, of course, we commented that we bid for both projects, the I-24, I-285 is both under assumption that it will not need any capital increase, and we can fund it with cash flows from our operating assets today and a limited extent also with some additional corporate debt at holding level. And yes, we'll continue bidding for more projects. I think this is a very attractive pipeline. Very good opportunities ahead. And yes, I think that we'll continue bidding.

Of course, the I-77, as you know, it was voted in favor by the Charlotte Transportation Authority. So we expect that this project will continue ahead and we'll get the RFP by the end of the year, and then we'll be tendering hopefully at the end of the year or beginning of 2028. And we think it's a very attractive project. And as you know, we have a consortium. And as part of it, we will bid for this project. And also hopefully, we can win similar to the I-285, and we can create value with these additional projects.

Well, regarding the -- Graham, the equity IRR hurdle, of course, is high in terms of what is needed for these projects, and we won't mention other specifics that recently maybe were a little bit tighter than this one is similar. What we've done is also look at many other things to support the bid, right, like, of course, all the benchmarking that Ignacio was mentioning before. And by the way, one of the things that is important to clarify is that the hurdle for the 1,500 vehicles is checked every 5 minutes. It's not that you have to wait for an hour for that, right? And we have ample data for that. So we've looked at all the different segmentation that we have in our different assets to assess for affordability and other stuff, right? So it's not only the hurdle rate per se, but also all the analysis of these sensitivities and backing to have the solid backing of our expectation.

Our next question comes from José Manuel Arroyas from Santander.

A couple of questions, if I may. First, you mentioned earlier that the market could be underestimating the equity payments associated with I-24. Could you please tell us what Ferrovial's capital allocation policy might be after I-24 in particular? And I wanted to ask you about the $600 million or so of annual share buybacks that Ferrovial is currently implementing as part of its shareholder remuneration. And I mean, do you expect to maintain that policy? Could we expect a shift to scrip dividend? If so, when would that happen, if at all? And also, how would these plans change if you were to win I-25 (sic) [ I-285 ] East in a couple of weeks' time?

And Second question is about the financial close. I know you are not going to provide details, but qualitatively, is there any scenario that could prompt Ferrovial to reconsider your willingness to underwrite this project, the I-24, especially what levels of PABs or TIFIA loans would you consider at a minimum for -- to underwrite this project?

Thank you, José Manuel. I will answer the first one, and then Ernesto will answer the second one. And yes, as commented, yes, I think that the comment that the market may overestimate the equity payments of this project. And as commented, we expect that with our operating cash flows from our portfolio today and also holding debt by maintaining the BBB rating, we think that we can do this project and we win the 285 and also additional projects in the future. So we are comfortable with that.

Regarding the distribution policy, I think that it's not going to change in the sense that the Board will continue taking decisions every year, and it will be based on the expectations and the opportunities we see of investments and also considering the cash flows that we see in the future. Of course, considering as usual, and rotation of mature assets with more value to third parties than to us. And also as we usually do with the potential investments and opportunities that we may see in the future. So we don't expect to see a change to what we have been doing in the past. And also as a reference, historically, we have always given a dividend. Ernesto, you can go to the next.

Yes. So I mean, you were talking specifically what happens with the financial close depending on the availability of different financing structures. Well, the first one, I mean, you mentioned also TIFIA. TIFIA was covered during the presentation is the grantors duty and also the bidding documents clearly specify what can be done with -- if there's less availability of TIFIA, for instance.

Regarding PABs and taxable bonds, the first thing is that all the bid is submitted with rating -- investment-grade rating from a variety of rating agencies, right? So our projections have been checked for their, let's say, lenders case with whatever sort of revenues they considered, and we had that investment grade. So with investment grade, we also have, let's say, the assessment of Bulge bracket investment banks about how -- I mean, the size of what can be placed in the market, right? So therefore, I mean, with the markets not being closed, investment rating and that assessment, we should be in good shape for the financial close with these instruments.

Our next question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I kind of ask you -- you mentioned it's easier to trigger mandatory modes on I-24 relative to some of your other roads. Could I kind of ask you to elaborate there, which are the arguments? And secondly, just to come back at the TIFIA, you have this slide with the TIFIA volume risk sits with the Department of Transport. Just to make sure, could you elaborate what that means? Do you already have a -- do you know exactly how much TIFIA loan you will get or that is still subject to change? And what -- could you elaborate what does the volume risk sits with the TDOT mean?

Thank you, Cristian. Yes, about the 1,500, the soft cap that we need to trigger to get and cap pricing events. In other managed lanes is different where we have a soft cap that is higher than these numbers is 1,800 and also 60 miles per hour. And of course, with our data analysis and insight, we have been able to analyze how often for how long and under which events this will happen based on the analysis that we have. And with that, we have taken the assumptions in order to estimate the revenues that we have placed in our offer.

So of course, we cannot disclose how easier it is to surpass. It is not linear. So I don't think that it's a small difference. It's quite large, the difference. But of course, we cannot share any information that is that we don't want to share with the market in general. But of course, it's based on data and analysis and it has taken us to precise, I mean, information that is included in our estimates. But it's nothing that we can share with you today.

Okay. And regarding the TIFIA volume price lies with the grantor and the final quantity, I mean, the final amount of TIFIA is not known yet. And for what that implies in terms of the grantor responsibility, you will have to wait for the financial close and the all the capital structure will be clear. I'm sorry, but we cannot comment at this point in time.

The next question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley.

So a few from me. Just -- so as José Manuel said, you put in the slide, you feel the market overestimates the need for equity on the project. Do you mind sharing what that level is for you in terms of what you think consensus expects for equity and that would be helpful.

Second one, just we understand, I mean, you're pushing a fair amount of risk on the financing funding to TDOT. But in the current market, where the rates are and the spreads are, and they've moved a lot since early July when you filed the offering, how much would you cut the upfront payment today? Could you give us an idea of how much basically the current conditions in the market today would lead you to cut the offering of the upfront?

And last point, in terms of tariff capture, apparently, the TDOT documents show there's relatively low propensity to pay per user in Nashville. Is that something you expect as well? And last point, can you just confirm the stake you have in the projects? That would be helpful. I think it's 65%, but just a confirmation.

Thank you, Nicolas. So I will try to answer. So let me know if I don't answer all the questions because of the 4 of them. So the first one, I think, unfortunately, we cannot give any more details right now of what our estimates are, and it's something that we'll disclose at the financial close. So you have to wait until then and even now it's an estimate, and we don't know the final figure until everything is closed.

As we commented, the risk of funding is very mainly on the grantor. And according to the bidding rules is clearly how it is adjusted in case it is moving. So it's a clear definition in the bidding rules about how it is adjusted in case it's changing. But to see the final numbers, we have to wait until the financial close.

And about the propensity to pay, to me, what is very relevant in this case is several things. One is that the delay now in peak times is 36 minutes. So it's quite a long delay. Income per capita is higher than the average of -- in the U.S. So I think that, of course, we have taken consideration about willingness to pay and how it is evolving over time that is related also about the evolution of the income per capita, how congestion is going to increase in the future.

So we have taken all these assumptions as part of our model. And of course, we have incorporated it in our estimates. And the stake that we have, yes, I confirm you that we have 65% in the consortium that is the preferred bidder for the I-24. I don't know if I missed anything, Nicolas?

No. Well, actually, on the first question, we -- well, because you assess we're overestimating the need for equity. I just wanted to know what your base is in terms of how much you think the market thinks you need equity? Is it $7 billion, $8 billion on your share, something around that? Just to know basically, just to know by how much we may end up being wrong by July next year.

But if I may just also just one follow-up on the -- you talked about the potential extension. I think that got a few people excited early on. Any kind of extension, especially to the north, closer to Nashville and to the airport. This is -- can you clarify this is fundamentally an almost any independent project, you would have some preferential rights, but you would basically have to almost rebid on these projects if that comes to market? Or you generally have a kind of first refusal rights on any extension be north or south of the assets?

Yes. So about the first question, we cannot say more than that. So I think that you have to wait until then. And as commented, we cannot give any idea about how much is overestimated. About the second is there are enhancements. One is an extension to the north that is a very highly congested area. So what -- of course, now users are asking for additional capacity. And I think for TDOT is a very good opportunity that is negotiating with the winner of the I-24 in order to build this extension. The way it works, you have, if I remember well, 2 or 3 months, the winner has to show that they are interested in proceeding with this project.

And then once you do that, we'll need to do then initial designs and because there is no need still not environmental permit for this segment. So it will be needed an analysis of a potential design and estimate about cost and revenues. And with that identifying if there is a payment or a subsidy. And based on that, we will be negotiate with TDOT. And if approved after the negotiation, then we will proceed with environmental permits and with a project that will be part of the I-24 project and -- but after a negotiated process with the Tennessee DOT.

So it's similar to what we saw in the 35 West that we have several extensions later because it's under the scope, geographic scope of the concession and you negotiate with the DOT. Of course, they need to approve at the end, and they have to agree with what is proposed and what we plan to do, but you have the right to negotiate with them.

And this is not in the base case?

It's not included in our base case any enhancement.

Each of them, they have to be profitable by themselves and each of them, they have to create value.

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

It was just on capital allocation again and sort of squaring with your obvious appetite to bid on more of these projects. Can you just remind us the scope of assets that you could potentially divest sort of ones that are currently sort of, let's say, ready for disposal? And also, would you consider maybe reducing your stake in some of your existing assets in order to meet equity commitments on these new projects?

Graham, so I mean, basically, when we mentioned that we are funding this with our operating cash flow, it basically comes from dividends from projects. I mean we are not really looking to divest core assets or things like that. Of course, there's some type of business that we rotate more frequently, let's say, photovoltaic investment that's usually ripe for rotation pretty quickly. But in our numbers, what we have built for this funding, we haven't included anything like that, like what you're suggesting. So we can divest assets are based on merits of the transaction per se and capital allocation, not that we have really thought of that as a source of funding. That is super important.

The next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

I've got several follow-ups. So maybe firstly, just on funding. What is the maximum amount of leverage at the corporate level of Ferrovial that you would be comfortable to operate with? And can you just remind us what are the leverage metrics that you are most closely monitoring?

Okay. My question number two, I wanted to come back on Slide 9, where you disclosed those revenue sharing mechanisms depending on the pricing. But can you just explain, is it the only revenue sharing mechanism that exists within I-24? Or is there a separate revenue sharing that is relating to the total revenue that the asset will generate irrespective of pricing? That would be quite useful to know.

And maybe the last one, if you allow me, a follow-up on your Slide 9. You are disclosing that based on your design, you see 1.4x -- 1.3 to 1.4x more trips compared to the reference design of TDOT. But do you have visibility as to how your design compared to the design of other consortia that were also participating in the process? Is your design providing essentially significantly more traffic? I don't know if you can comment on that, but, thank you.

I will answer the last 2 and then Ernesto will answer the first one. About any revenue sharing for that, I think you have to wait to the financial close to see that. So we cannot comment any further about that today. And about the connectivity, what I can say is that, of course, I think there are 2 things here. One is in scope traffic that as commented is 95%. So it's most of the traffic that is using the corridor is in the scope. So at some point of time, we will access the managed lanes.

This is something that we have been evolving through time. So other assets that we have today, like there could be the 35 West today that has in scope trips, the corridor in the scope is around -- is in the 70s. So it's much lower. In some cases, because you need -- you don't have physical space or in other cases, you need the permission from the grantor. So for different reasons, you may have a full scope. But in this case, we have been able to find in technical options that allow us to capture most of the traffic in the corridor.

The second that is also equally important is the capture rates because it's not only that the traffic is in the scope, but that the length of the T-ramps is adequate, they are placed in the right position that you have second chances that -- so the type of intersection that you have. So these type of things are also relevant. And all these things are based on our knowledge and experience in previous managed lanes.

And we are quite comfortable with the design that we have that we think is going to help us to increase the traffic to the managed lanes and also because of the design that the managed lanes are outside of the highway also that will help to reduce also the expropriations that are going to be needed and it's going to facilitate the construction during the traffic during the construction. So we are quite comfortable. I think that we have large teams that have been working about this project for a quite long period of time. 35% of design is quite unusual for this type of projects, expensive too, but I think it's worth because it helps us to identify opportunities that is difficult to say that others have them or not. But what I think is that this is the result of years of experience managing and bidding for managed lanes.

Okay. And regarding the metrics for the corporate debt, I mean, we have a proxy that is not exactly what the rating agencies do. I mean we always talk about a proxy being 2x net debt to EBITDA. And here, the EBITDA is, I mean, mainly the dividends that we get from projects and also the -- well, the EBITDA from construction, let's say, and other divisions, right? So what you need to bear in mind, this is a long construction period and the equity is back ended. And the growth of our dividends in the portfolio keeps supporting all the needs, right? That's the reason why we say that the main source is the dividends that we get from projects and then to a lesser degree, additional leverage at the corporate level.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the line back to Silvia at the Ferrovial team. Thank you very much.

Sorry. We have many questions here in the webcast. I'm start reading. Our first set of questions comes from Victor Acitores from Bernstein. First question, what explains your construction costs far below ACS consortium offer?

As commented previously, what we estimate the cost with the 3 independent teams and with a very advanced design. And also with the connection with the local supply chains and local subcontractors and also we have been preparing to self-perform in this area that -- so I think we have been preparing for a long period of time, and we came with these numbers that the number that we have is very close to one of the bids that we're not asking almost we consider not the payment to the grant or not.

So we think that a very conservative one and our construction cost was very close. It's true that was one offer that was lower, one that is higher. To me at $12 billion, that is $4 billion above the lowest looks an outlier, no more than that is the norm. I think that the other thing to consider is that the lowest bidder with the construction cost is correct with this $4 billion the construction companies will pay 0 equity. So I mean, it's something that you have to consider because maybe there are other reasons for this high price.

Okay. Next question from Victor as well. How much flexibility did bidders have in designing the timing profile of concession payments? How confident is Ferrovial that the concession payment structure change is fully protected from legal challenges by unsuccessful bidders? What level of chances did you see to appeal structure changes? How much time could take an appeal just in case?

About that, as commented previously, we cannot give further details about the concession payments. It's something that will be disclosed at the time of the financial close. What I have to say, everything that we are negotiating today is something that is usual when you have a financial close, nothing exceptional. And of course, everything that you may negotiate is according to the bidding rules. So because of that, we don't have expectations today that there could be any challenge to after financial close, but anyhow, you never know. And I don't know exactly how it will work because we are not now considering that alternative, but I think that everything is according to the bidding rules. So we feel very comfortable about that.

Next question from Victor. What happened if financial close is not reached? What are currently viewed as the principal risk to timely financial close? Could the equity requirements be reduced over time through syndication or the entry of infrastructure investors? Could award of the I-285 East affect the view of financing the project?

Okay. Thanks, Victor. So well, basically, the -- as I mentioned before, the project has investment-grade rating from multiple agencies. Investment-grade projects are financed in the capital markets regularly. We also have the assessment of investment banks about the size. So we really expect this is a great project, and we expect it to close normally. I mean, super unlikely event that the financial close is not reached, of course, there's flexibility in the contract to move away. But I will insist. I mean, this is a great project, and that's what we expect to happen.

Regarding the equity requirement, I mean, this is like any other asset, right? I mean we have the merits on its own risk return adjustments. So ask me this question after financial close and you'll see. Of course, we are open in different circumstances for partners. And in terms of the award of the I-285 affecting the view of financing the project, no, we see similarities. If we are lucky to win, we would be looking forward to maybe a similar process.

Okay. Last question from Victor. What traffic and revenue growth are you assuming after ramp-up? Are you expecting average toll per mile far away your other managed lanes assets? What percentage of revenues do you expect from light vehicles versus heavy vehicles?

Well, about the first question about the traffic and revenue growth after ramp-up. We explained before what you have to do to estimate the 2034 traffic and at least to consider that period of time with the growth in this period of time and also the suppressed traffic and also ramp-up. But after that, what you have to look mainly is about Nashville and how the city could be growing and how -- I mean, the activity, the income per capita is going to evolve, the population and the economic activity. And I think that's something important that you have to consider because I think that we see Nashville as a region which could grow a lot and I think that is relevant for the future.

Regarding the question Okay. The other question that -- how it was compared the toll per mile compared to the other managed lanes. What we commented that probably the most relevant comparable to the I-24 is the 35 West. In this case, 35 West is a corridor with long-haul heavy traffic. It's also an area with a lot of logistics centers and activity. And also you have a downtown that has a lot of commuters. And it's very congested. So in that sense, that's why when I was commenting in the presentation I mentioned the 35 West as the most relevant comparable and it's what we took in order also for our analysis and for our estimates.

And that's why I commented that if the I-24 pricing framework and connectivity were applied to NTE 35 West, then in that with the current traffic profile, in that case, the revenue per lane per mile will significantly increase. We cannot give further disclosure of how much, but what you can consider is that, of course, we are taking our operational expertise in other managed lanes to compare and with this pricing mechanism and connectivity that we have that is -- in this case, connectivity is 95% compared to the 70s that we have in the 35 West. So in that case, it's a relevant change.

And regarding the percentage of revenues from light or heavy, we are not disclosing any information. But again, we commented several times that for our managed lanes, the 35 West is the one that has more heavy vehicles, and we are taking a comparable with the 35 West. So that's why we are considering that this is also a corridor with a lot of heavy vehicles, not only for long distance, but also for activity and logistics centers in the area.

Okay. Next set of questions comes from Filipe Leite from CaixaBank. First question, how does the expected equity IRR from the project compare with your recent managed lane wins? And what percentage of project value derives from dynamic pricing above the soft cap?

Now regarding the -- as commented previously, we have commented several times that it's a double-digit equity IRR that is adjusted to the risk of the projects. And in this case, what we see is more risk is a larger project, you have more financial risk, you have more construction risk. It's a new state. It's the first P3 in the state. So of course, it's a project with more risk than others in the past. And what the percentage of value from dynamic pricing above the soft cap is something that we are not disclosing. But as commented previously, what we see is that it's much easier than in others managed lanes with a soft cap to reach these numbers is all what we can say today, but I think that is a relevant thing to consider.

Okay. Next question comes from Andy Jones from HSBC. How much has delay minutes increased since the 2016 traffic study in Slide 6?

Thank you for the question. Delays have increased from 3 to 8 hours a day in the eastbound direction and from 4 to 11 hours in the westbound direction. And defines delays over 5 minutes.

Next question comes from Stanislas Coquebert from Lazard. Given the leverage required for financing and construction, by when would you expect the concession to pay its first dividend to its shareholders? Is there any clause that prevents the construction of a free alternative?

Stanislas, well, regarding the capital structure, I mean, you need to bear with us to see the leverage details. It's true that what we are working on is a capital structure where we could have dividends earlier on, right? So we are working we are working on that. Okay. And well, the other question was if I'm correct, if there was any clause that prevented the construction of a free alternative. Well, here, you have to look at the different plans that are in place, how the basically layout is. So it's more physical limitations that we -- that would be faced here, right? So probably it doesn't make sense. I mean what the TDOT is looking more is through the other managed lanes that is not really an alternative is something different.

Sorry, I was muted. Apologies. Next question comes from Kenton Moorhead from DWS. Do the revenue share bands inflate as well? Or are they static through concession life?

No, they inflate with the same escalation that we saw before, a greater of 2.5% versus average of state GDP, U.S. CPI and 3%. So it's moving exactly the same with the soft cap.

Next question comes from Aleksas Byla from Davidson Kempner. Why is such a secret the timing of the $24 billion, $25 billion concession payment? Have you seen the share price where you cannot clarify this overhang and give investors a bit of relief?

Well, thank you for the question. Yes, of course, if we could, we'll be more than happy to share with you that information on the equity and the concession and debt. But we are under NDA with a confidentiality agreement, and we cannot share that information. The focus for us is how to maximize and create value. I think this is the most important thing. And our view is about the long term, not about the short term. And whenever we can disclose, we'll do. And of course, we care about the short term, too, but I think it's important about how we create value. But as soon as we can disclose more information, we'll do.

Okay. Next question, and I think the last one is from Hari from Deutsche Bank. Am I understanding it right that the price caps, $0.80 mile and $1.60 per mile are inflated each year by the adjustment factor. But what about the $3.20 threshold?

Yes, all rates are multiplied with the indicators that I mentioned before. So yes, it's the case for all of them. So I think there are no more questions now, Silvia. So I think that with that, I appreciate all of you joining the call and all the questions. Hopefully, this will help a little bit to clarify with the information that we are able to share. And as commented previously, financial close, we will share with you more information. And hopefully, at that time, all of you share with us that this is a great project that potentially could create a lot of value for Ferrovial. Thank you very much all of you for joining us today. Bye.

Good afternoon, everybody. This is Sylvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to thank you and welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the company's financial results for the first half of 2026.

I'm joined here today by our CEO, Ignacio Madridejos; and our CFO, Ernesto Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and presentation were made available on our website yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. At the end of the presentation today, there will be a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions].

Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, so actual figures may differ. During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report and in our website. With all this, I will hand over to Ignacio. Ignacio, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Sylvia, and hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's results for the first half of 2026. Overall, the semester saw a strong performance driven by our North American highways that show an outstanding revenue growth and our construction business, which delivered revenue growth while maintaining its profitability target. In airports, new terminal 1 at JFK has submitted a completion remedial plan with March 2027 as the date for Phase DBO. In terms of us, we closed the first 6 months of the year with a net debt cash position of EUR 1.3 billion, excluding infrastructure projects.

The primary sources of cash included construction, operating cash flow of EUR 329 million, dividends collected from projects of EUR 378 million and divestments of EUR 96 million, mainly from Silverton Panel in the U.K. and transmission lines in Chile. The cash outflows consisted mainly of the equity injection in that amounted to EUR 63 million, together with EUR 398 million of cash dividends and treasury purchases. Regarding recent developments, we submitted bids for two new managed lanes projects. i24 in Tennessee and the I-85 in Georgia will know the results in the third quarter of the year.

Additionally, our bid for D-certified highway in the Czech Republic and availability project was noted as the most cost effective and the bids technical evaluation process is currently ongoing. Moving now to our main infrastructure assets and starting with 407 ETR. In the FTR grew revenue by 18.7% in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year. Total revenue increased 20.2%, primarily driven by higher toll rates, which went into effect on January 1, 2026. The traffic grew by 1.8% in the first half of the year, driven by targeted commercial promotions.

As a result, EBITDA increased by 24.4% versus the first half including a credit provision of CAD 5.5 million, significantly lower than the CAD 45.2 million in 2025. In the second quarter of 2026, traffic was 2.7% lower than in 2025, reflecting softer economic activity, reduced rehabilitation construction on alternative highways and adverse weather continues, while commercial promotions continue with a more targeted approach that enhances customer value while supporting EBITDA.

In terms of dividends, CAD 500 million was paid in the first half another CAD 550 million was approved to be distributed in the third quarter of the year. Moving on to Dallas for water manage lanes in terms of traffic, the area remains strong, while traffic in our managed lanes was impacted by construction works and less favorable weather. In terms of operating results, the 3 projects posted solid growth versus last year, both in terms of revenue and EBITDA despite the increase in revenue share.

Looking at each of the assets at NTE, traffic was impacted by the capacity improvement construction works and declined 0.6% in the second quarter and 2% in the first half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 14.7% in the first half, and it was impacted by $6.5 million of revenue share. grew transactions by 2.9% in the first half of the year with traffic increasing by 6.9% in the second quarter reflecting greater utilization of the managed lanes as construction works on the I-635 East feeder corridor approach completion.

Adjusted EBITDA grew by 15.2% in the first half. NTE35 West traffic was affected by the increased congestion and managed lanes entry exit points, which created bottlenecks as well as by the finalization of capacity restrictions due to construction works on nearby road 1:1. Transactions decreased by 0.2% in the second quarter and grew by 0.4% in the first half of the year. Adjusted EBITDA, which grew by 18.6% in the first half was impacted by $15.8 million of revenue share. All our Dallas Forth Worth Lanes registered double-digit growth in revenue per transaction well above inflation. This was driven by several factors. Favorable traffic mix with higher heavy vehicles volumes, thanks mostly to technology enhancements in camera recognition that started to be implemented in 2025 with improved vehicle classification as well as higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE35 West.

In the first half of 2020, revenue per transaction grew by 18.9% in NTE LBA and 17.3% in NTE35 West. Following this robust operating performance, all 3 Forth Worth Managed Lanes deliver higher dividend distributions in the first half of the year. MTE distributed $118 million. LBA, $61 million and NTE 35 West, $143 million. All these figures are at 100% level. Now moving to I-66. Traffic grew by 8.5% in the first half of the year, driven by increased traffic in the corridor and despite adverse weather conditions. Revenue per transaction grew by 8.7% in the first half of the year, and total revenue increased by 17.9%, driven by higher toll rates with adjusted EBITDA up 20.4%.

In terms of dividends, I-66 distributed $8 million at 100% level. Traffic declined by 4.8% in the second quarter and 5.2% in the first half, primarily reflecting lower congestion in the corridor Performance was also affected by a challenging comparison against early 2025 when traffic benefited from alternative lane closures following Hurricane in as well as adverse weather conditions throughout first half of 2026. Despite this, revenue per transaction increased by 11.8% in the first half of the year reflecting higher toll rates.

However, adjusted EBITDA declined by 5.4% compared to first half of negatively impacted by the step-up in revenue share from 25% to 50%. This is largely a first year effect and is expected to normalize as revenues continue to grow within the new share band. First half adjusted EBITDA included the accrual of $15.6 million of revenue share. Additionally, I-77 distributed $18 million in dividends. Turning to airports, starting with new terminal 1 at JFK. MTO has submitted and completion remedial plan with March 2027 as the date for Phase A date of beneficial occupancy. As of the end of the first half of 2026, the project had reached approximately 92% construction progress.

Remaining activities are mainly systems integration, testing and commissioning. Airline engagement continues with commitments today from 32 airlines, including 24 executed agreements and 8 letters of intent. In terms of equity, we injected the remaining EUR 63 million, completing all equity commitments and bringing total investment to EUR 1,041 million. At Dalaman Airport, the first half of the year was impacted by the Middle East conflict resulting in total passengers of EUR 1.8 million, showing a decline of 8.1% compared to the first half of 2025, mainly international passengers. Adjusted EBITDA was 13.7% lower than the first half of last year.

Moving to Construction. The business posted solid results with revenue growing by 7.1% in reported figures and 9.7% in like-for-like terms for the first 6 months of the year. while margins remained stable at 3.5% adjusted EBIT margin. Budimex maintained healthy margins at 6.9% adjusted EBIT and deliver higher like-for-like revenues. [indiscernible], continued to benefit from a strong growth with a 24.2% like-for-like increase in revenues, leading to higher profitability with 3.4% adjusted EBIT margin due to positive operating leverage. Ferrovial Construction margins were stable with higher revenues increasing by 4% in like-for-like terms compared to the first half of last year.

The order book remained at an all-time high of EUR 18 billion, up 2.8% like-for-like versus December 2025. excluding approximately EUR 2.6 billion of additional pre-awarded contract spending financial close as of June 2026. The operating cash flow of the division was EUR 329 million for the first half of the year compared to a negative operating cash flow last year, mainly driven by prepayments and compensations received in North America.

Now Ernesto will continue with main financial information.

Thanks, Ignacio, and hello, everybody attending the call. Well, I shall start with the consolidated P&L. I shall cover the lines below the EBITDA level. Depreciation has increased in line with higher CapEx in construction. Here, we have higher activity and also increasing sales performance and also with a traffic profile in highways where we have higher weight of traffic in the earlier years in the current business plan. The line of disposal and impairments. Here, we have smaller divestments in 2026 versus 2025.

Mainly in '26, we have a transmission line in Chile that was sold and also Silvertown Tunnel and availability payment concession in the U.K. in 2025, remember that we had the sale of AES in airports. In financial results from infrastructure projects I mean that is a number that's pretty much unchanged year-on-year with some small impacts canceling each other. I mean we have some lower expenses from a lower U.S. dollar FX rate. but we have some higher inflation expense in the Autema concession.

Infrastructure Projects financial results were favored in 2025 by the ticking fee of the sale of the last stake in Kethro that was sold. This stake was accounted for as a financial investment throughout 2025. In the equity accounted affiliate results, we have the growth that is in line with the operating results growth. The line of tax reflects a corporate tax rate of 22% on profit before taxes. Here, I mean, if you exclude the equity accounted line that is already post tax and you take into account that the tax on the U.S. concessions is accrued or accounted for already at the at our percentage ownership. You don't need to that minorities you come to this level. The net P&L from discontinued operations reflects earnouts from businesses from the divested Services division.

Okay. So let's move on to review the consolidated net debt. We ended the semester with a solid net cash position or negative net debt of EUR 1.3 billion roughly. Here, starting from the left, we have dividends from projects that were EUR 378 million. This is mainly highways with EUR 150 million from the 407, EUR 158 million in from the data proves managed lanes. And then we have EUR 38 million from by 66 and 77 last comes with EUR 11 million of dividends. Then we have the construction operating cash flows, ex tax payments and ex dividends. This reached EUR 329 million. This is driven by prepayments and payments that were pending from Canada, the Ontario line. So prepayments in the U.S. and is catching up in Canada.

Tax payments reached EUR 48 million. And here, we have the main component, this EUR 26 million from Budimex and the corporate income tax there. In terms of investments, we had EUR 187 million of investments. The main one, as was commented before by Ignacio is the last equity increase here in phase of EUR 63 million. And we also have investments in energy, some projects in Lyon County taxes, EUR 65 billion that we are considering here, 35% are from this solar project that I mentioned. And in construction, we have EUR 49 billion. Then we go on with the interest received on other investing activities cash flow. This is EUR 37 million, and this is basically cash remuneration on the liquidity we have then we have business that reached EUR 96 million, and this is largely driven by the Silvertown Tunnel. I mentioned in the last slide, and also the transmission in Chile, right? This is the most important part, EUR 78 million in total, these 2 divestments. Then in terms of cash dividend and treasury share purchases.

We have EUR 398 million. And here, EUR 98 million was from the cash dividend and the rest, the 300-mil share purchases in the buyback progress that we have since December 2025. And then we have other cash flows used in financing activities. Here, this is basically a bond that was raised. Another one was repaid. And also, we have dividends to minorities in Budimex or financial leases. And last, in this cash breakdown, we have the effect of the exchange rate on cash equivalents of EUR 20 billion.

Okay. So after this review, then we are ready to open the Q&A session.

Okay. Thank you, Matthew and Ernesto. Let's start with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

[Operator Instructions]. Our first question comes from Mark Ip from Citi.

I've got a couple. The first one, just on the JFK new terminal 1 delay. Can I ask how much contingency is built into the new March '27 target? And if there are any other critical parts within that time frame that could slip or how prudent are you being with that time line basically?

And then the second one on that is around -- is there any sort of recourse or compensation available from the design builders of this delay? And then I've got another question just on the construction business. I've seen the margins have returned gone to your 3.5% long-term EBIT target -- margin target. Can you share how much in the first half, how much of that margin offsets from the Delevett bid costs? And maybe, is there a potential tailwind in the second half if your bids have now gone in for the I-24 and the I-285 tenders?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you for your questions, and we'll take both of them regarding the JFK. What we have is this remedial plan that is with the new schedule of March 2027 is based on the best available information today, so it's what is expected according to the plan and has been prepared together with the contractor that we have there. So this is the basic information that we have today. about what we have, as you know, the date was June '26 and starting July, there are LDs that the contractor will pay for because of the delay, this is 500,000 per day.

That will maintain until it is open, and it could be, of course, challenged by the contractor if they think that some of the delays is not because of their cost. In the case of construction, yes, we have been -- we have the effect in this first half of the year of bidding cost for -- especially for the two large projects that we have submitted offers in July, both the I-24 in Nashville and the 285 in Atlanta. And yes, we continue to be in for other projects, and we'll start to have other costs that it will have some effect in the bottom line, but I think that starting will be lower than the spend so far, but we'll see what is the fact that at the end of the year. But as usual, the only guidance that we gave about construction is 3.5% as an average for the long term.

The next question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

The first one on with the construction almost finalized on the 635 and having in mind the fact that LBJ traffic has been lagging the other U.S. lanes over the last few years. Could you tell us a bit more how do you think about volume support in traffic going forward? And if you can comment if you are anywhere close to triggering mandatory modes in any segments of the LBJ currently?

The second one, there are some press articles recently suggesting that you may be looking to invest in a data center project in [indiscernible] in Madrid at around EUR 1 billion. Could you tell us a bit more about these projects? And in general, from the perspective of capital allocation, is this a segment you are willing to allocate more capital on the midterm?

And maybe the last one, if I could kind of ask you the -- I think over the last few weeks, the Washington Airport Authority gave a green light for $20 billion-plus CapEx program for one of the airports there. I believe you made an unsolicited offer a while ago on the projects. Could you tell us a little bit more based on what publicly available. What are the next steps in this process and the time line from here?

Thank you, Christian. Yes, for the questions. I'll start with LBJ. Yes, you commented, yes, we saw some improvement in traffic in the last quarter, thanks to that's two of the segments, not that are fitting the LBA and at 635 were almost finished. Also the new managing in the 35 will be completed in the first quarter of next year. But we are seeing some benefit coming from some almost finalization of some segments of these new managed lanes. Also is not only impacted by 635 but also 35 is, there were some work and other works in the area that -- all of them will be finalizing in the following months, and we expect not to have any impact from construction activity in the area in the first quarter of next year. part of this benefit, we are seeing today with some of the segments that have been finalized, but the full effect we'll see in the first quarter of next year.

Regarding the data center, is as we commented previously that we purchased two power lands, one in Alcobendas in Madrid and other was in Warsaw in Poland, the news that you could -- you read in the -- a few weeks ago about this project is a special project as part of the [indiscernible]. And it's a first phase that we are doing first totally 75 megawatts IT. The first part will be close to 45 megawatts IT to start with. And what you have to consider that the total. This is a total investment for the all phases. And on top of that, there will be some leverage and we can bring partners to participate with us and also contribute equity. And for us, in this business, we have a pay of recycling capital and rotating capital once it's a mature asset with a lease.

So in the total amount of equity that we'll deploy in this business will be limited because of that. especially because of the will rotate once it is mature, that it means what is finalized the construction, and then we have a lease in place. We are starting with Madrid and Poland. And depending on you see later how we how we progress and how successful we are with these two sites in which we are working first. Regarding the Washington Airport, what was announced is that the Washington Airport Authority that they want to develop a new project. It's true that we presented -- we participated in a request for ideas, and we presented some ideas about how to develop this airport.

But finally, it's not going to be done with a P3 project and it's going to be done directly by the Washington Airport Authority. And we are looking at it as a poor construction project, but we don't expect that this will be a pity project in which we can allocate some capital.

It's very helpful. Could I just double-check on the LBJ mandatory modes. Are we close on any [indiscernible]

Yes. Sorry, yes, yes. We -- it's true that in the last month's segment of LBJ triggered some speed mandatory modes, but I will say that these are not significant and not relevant affecting the revenues at LBJ. And as we have commented several times before, there is capacity available at LBA and we don't expect that the mandatory malls will have a significant impact in the following months or years. So we don't expect also we may have some sporadic events. I think that they will not have a significant impact in the short term.

Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

Just to jump back on the MTO. I was wondering if given the delays to Phase I, you would seek a different contractor to carry out the work in Phase B1 and B2. Second question on the U.S. managed lanes and generally on your to exposure. Generally, traffic seems to be quite resilient despite all the macro headwinds. What do you think is causing this traffic strength nearly. And should we be mindful of gas oil? I mean, it doesn't seem to have any impact. Can you share your view on correlation there between traffic and oil price for your assets? And lastly, I think you're planning a CMV at some point, but could you give us maybe like your agenda there, if it's going to be and when it's [indiscernible].

What we are doing today is working on the design. Regarding manage lens, what we see is the economy is performing well and especially the -- in the places in which we have our assets, Dallas Forth Worth and Washington area and Charlotte, these areas are performing in general from an economic point of view well. We are not seeing a significant impact from oil prices at least for the time being. Also when you see in the long term. I mean, the main correlation is with the local GDP and oil price is high for a long period of time, it may have an effect in the local GDP.

But for the time being, as commented, we have not seen a significant effect or impact from the oil prices. And what we are seeing is a good local activity in the places where we have for assets.

And regarding the Capital Markets Day, we have not taken a decision when we are going to do it, what we commented is that our strategic plan horizon 26 is finalizing this year, and we are internally working about a new horizon plan. for the next years, and we have not taken a decision yet about when and how we are going to communicate externally this plan. And we'll let you know as soon as we take a decision about it.

The next question comes from Ruairi Cullinane from RBC Capital Markets.

Yes. First question would be, could you provide an update with regards to the IP out in the U.S. Madeleine pipeline given the media reports on local votes against the project? And secondly, on the 407 ETR, net financial expense increased 25% in Q2. Is that a reasonable run rate into third quarter? Or was there anything one-off in that? And also on the forest of an EPR, the quarterly dividend increased by 30 million cats in Q2 and Q3. Is that sort of run rate we should be thinking about potentially into Q4, which would leave the 407 ETR dividend less Q4 weighted than in 2025. Thank you.

Thank you for the questions. I will take the first one about the pipeline, and then Ernesto answer the two about the financial expenses and the OpEx. Regarding the I-77 South, we have been communicated about a delay of this project. But as you know, we prequalify together with other 3 groups and the information that we have today is that this project is delayed for the time being, and we are awaiting news from the North Carolina DOT about texts about this project and if they are going to issue an RFP and what is going to be the new time line. So we still are waiting about this project. And Ernesto?

Okay. Regarding financial expenses on the 407, you have two effects here. One of them is, well, there's additional data and additional issuers that, of course, drives cost higher. Also, there's been the effect of in inflation on the inflation-linked bonds and derivatives of the concession. I wouldn't take like a running rate because of this last effect, I mean there needs to be more detail into that analysis before extrapolating that inflation component. Regarding dividends, I mean, there's no guidance provided by the 47%. We don't provide guidance here. So I'm sorry you have to leave it there. And then the last question, if you could basically rephrase that again, it was about OpEx. Could you please redo that again?

No, you've answered my question. It was linked to the question on the dividends.

Next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Chevreux.

A couple of them very quickly. The first one is regarding the fact that you've recognized in the past the balance sheet headroom at the 40 on top of which the Q3 dividend grew very significantly year-on-year. Can we extrapolate this step-up in remuneration to the last quarter of 2026.

And the second question is regarding the favorable working capital performance, which seems very meaningful given the seasonality of this variable historically. Are we going to see more of the same in H2? Or this is purely exception?

Okay. Luis, I will take those. Well, regarding the dividend, it's like the last question, I mean, we don't provide any guidance regarding the dividend for the year, the 47 doesn't provide that, right? So we keep it there. Regarding the -- and the other question, if you -- on the working capital, yes, regarding the working capital in construction, it's true that the first semester has been favorable what I mentioned when I was reviewing the cash, I mean, there's been some, let's say, collections or payments that have been kind of delay that were basically cashed in this semester. So this has been specific for this semester.

And yes, the second half of the year, usually have some positive working capital effect at the end of the year. I mean, we don't provide any guidance, but there's no reason to not expect some sort of seasonality there at the very end of the year as other years.

The next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

Thanks for hosting. Just two questions. If we go back to the 407, I think historically, you've talked about catching up some of the pricing that was lost during the price freezes over the COVID period. And I wondered, does that still come into your thinking? Or are we in a different price regime now with a different approach with the promotions and things. I'm just kind of looking for a bit of an update on your thinking there, we've seen multiple years of very high pricing, obviously, with the promotions. But yes, just an update on how you think about the catch up there in terms of real pricing. And then the second question I'll go again on dividends, but not for the 407. Maybe just for the group, Ernesto, any help you can give us in terms of how you're thinking about the last part of your overall returns guidance for 2026 in the second half, the shape of that and how we should be modeling it? That would be helpful.

Thank you, Graham. And I will answer the first question about the 407 and then Ernesto will come back with the dividends. So about 47, the way we see it is about value for users and how we can capture that value for users with at the same time with relieving the congestion in the area. And that from a perspective, internal perspective of maximizing EBITDA. So we have to take when we think about this, you have to take all of this into consideration. And as you know, there are different parts, and one of those parts is about the toll rate that we increased at the at the beginning of -- we announced in November, but we implemented at the beginning of the year, but also we offer promotions to different type of users.

That is helping with the congestion relief, but it's also helped with some users that have different point of elasticity -- and all of that combined with maximizing EBITDA and reducing Schedule 22 payments. And that's a different thing that, as you know, is traffic at the peak and is related to the thresholds and the different segments we are more effective with promotions, reducing the schedule 22 payments as we have been able to achieve in the second year. So yes, I think that because all this, we think differently to what we did in the past about pricing is not only about one increase. It's also considering how promotions play there. and we maximize different effects of congestion relief of maximizing revenues and EBITDA in different ways.

So yes, I think that you should expect that this is the new rationale and how we -- is where we are going to behave in the future. And it will be based on these variables that I commented previously. And I think that is different to what we used to do in the past. But the focus at the end will be maximizing EBITDA and that's related to value to users and more growth, economic growth in Toronto area and population growth in population will help us to increase the value

And regarding the question on dividends, I mean, there's no update now. I mean, we'll probably the Board in October will -- that takes the decision on the second event, we'll update. But until then, we have no updates.

The next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

Three questions from me. The first one on the U.S. Texas Managed Lanes, which posted quite an impressive revenue growth almost 20% for all the 3 assets, and that was despite bad weather. So you mentioned various drivers for this growth. Could you maybe rank them or give them -- you mentioned for an the tech technology to classify high heavy vehicles. How significant was this?

The second question related to the first question, the back classification for heavy vehicles. My understanding is that it was implemented in 2025 at different dates for the different assets. Could you give us a bit more detail on this? And the third question is on the Traffic was down in the quarter in Q2. As you mentioned, some but its effect. You didn't mention really the promotion or the different type of promotions, [indiscernible] impact of the macroeconomic situation and traffic on alternative routes. So with that in mind, what is the implication for the potential for toll increase in 2027 if traffic is now growing.

Thank you, Dario. So I will start by Texas Manager Lanes and the revenue growth that we have seen in the 3 assets, in terms of importance, probably the most important has been the classification of vehicles. As you know, they have a multiplier. So with this new technology that we have implemented in the different managed lanes, it has helped us to identify more heavy vehicles that are paying more than what they were paying before. And this has been the main effect that we had -- in the case of also the NTE and the 5 ways.

Also, we had more mandatory modes than before. that had a positive effect in the revenue per transaction. And of course, always, we have some mix effects. And always, we have the impact of inflation in which we increased the soft cap at the beginning of the year. So probably I mentioned on those in terms of priority, what has been most relevant. And then the other effects that also were impacted this revenue per transaction with a 20% growth is relevant also what you mentioned about the classification of paces, yes, because we implemented that last year.

And we started with implementing a new technology and the different countries and we started with the 35 West follow with NTE and we'll finalize with LBG, but some of the information about the classification of these vehicles, we use as the beginning in all the three managed lanes. So some of the effect is already included in all of them. But it's true that the comparison in the second half, like-for-like will be already including this effect that started to -- we started to see at the end of the second half of last year, and you have to take that into consideration.

Also, the other effect in the manage lays about traffic is construction when we see the end in the construction at LBA and also attending capacity improvement. The effect will be of in the case of ENT, more traffic and less mandatory mode. In the case of NBA, once the construction is finished, it's expected that some traffic will come back to the corridor. And in the case of the 407, the effect of promotions has been very limited, I would say, slightly more than the previous year. in terms of traffic affected by promotions in the second quarter of '26 compared to the second quarter of '25. It's true that with slightly more traffic affected more promotions, we have been more effective in the schedule '22. So in that sense that we have some sectors in which we have traffic above the threshold. So in those cases, we have reduced promotions.

And there were other sectors in which we were below the threshold. And in those cases, well, we have been more effective, bringing some promotions that have helped us in order to reduce schedule 22 payments. So I will say that this is not a major effect and the major effects that we have in traffic in this quarter compared to previous year is economic activity. And that's mainly related to some industries that they have uncertainty, uncertainty of tariffs. So the whole economy is growing around 1%, but still we see some industries and sectors that are more affected and that will affect traffic.

We have seen also a relevant effect in terms of the delay in the maintenance in some competing highways, especially the flow on because of the FIFA World Cup that they didn't want to do some construction work during that period of time. As usually, you can do all this type of maintenance during -- with the good weather of spring and summer. And in this year, all these construction activity was delayed.

And third, also whether we have a negative effect of weather that was general. It was not only the 407. It was also in the [indiscernible] and other assets that we have that negative effect. In the future, well, as you know, we don't give guidance, but increasing prices will depend on the value that we see that the 407 has for the customers and we'll try to capture as much as we can of this value. And this is what we are doing with a combination of increasing toll rates at the beginning of the year and also with the promotions that we are doing during the year, 2 different segments. So we'll continue to do that, and we'll try to capture the value that we give to users as we have done in the past.

The next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

Yes. The first one is on your share buyback. I believe you have an authorization to buy back up to EUR 800 million until October of this year. And I believe the latest disclosure points to EUR 340 million of the authorization being utilized. So I'm just wondering, do you have an intention to actually fully exercise the authorization of $800 million? And is that even feasible considering the liquidity of the stock?

And my question number two, if you allow me, I just wanted to come back to these promotions on the 407 ETR. I'm just wondering, are the promotions that you're offering right now very, very similar to what you were offering at the beginning of the process a year ago or there has been a learning curve for the company? And do you see promotions also going forward as an important tool of yield management and also as a tool that will allow you to extract more revenue over and beyond Schedule 22 management? And could you perhaps continue with promotions in the longer term, even if Schedule 22 is no longer an issue.

Okay, Marcin. Well, regarding the buyback, there is no specific guidance on the buyback. The guidance we have in terms of remuneration is on distributions remuneration to shareholders. Eventually, we don't provide any specific guidance on how we manage the buyback that could be quite sensitive, as you can imagine. But just -- I mean, we have the guidance on delivery to our final investors on distributions. That's all that we have.

And regarding the promotions, yes, is to continue with the promotions in the future, independently of Schedule 22 and I think it's a very good way to attract new customers and maximize the value that we can capture for the users of the 407 million. The ones that we do for a Schedule 22 I think that are very similar in general, I think probably not in the same sector or with the same type of users. So we have learned how the we use are the most effective in terms of reduced Schedule 22 in the different segments, and we are more selective in the that sense to offer those that generate the most value for us and adding some new users that they were not offering before in some other sectors that we were paying some Schedule 22.

Now from there, I think, as you know, some of these promotions are free and the question is how much we can get for these promotions because maybe the users are open to pay something for them. And now we are open to other type we are piloting and doing other type of different promotions in order to understand the value for the users. And we are trying and testing different things, and we'll continue to do these type of promotions and learning from them. And is a way to do a segmentation and will continue in the future. But it's a long journey in which we need to learn from the users and -- with that, I think that it will take several years not to maximize EBITDA for us using the promotions and we have a good understanding of the value of the 407 for the different users.

Our next question comes from Harishankar Ramamoorthy from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Just maybe on the 407 ETR. So it looks like VKTs have been down this quarter year-on-year, but you've still managed to reverse some Schedule 22 provisions. So it looks like 47 have become really experts in managing the promotions for maybe peak of peak ours. Is it just that? Or is there any segment where you've hit the maximum throughput possible. And for that reason, you don't really have to expand efforts in managing the promotion. So I couldn't quite circle on how you could have PKs down, but still have reversal of provisions. Is it just you've become so good in managing the promotions? Or is there any other component to it? So that's the first one.

And secondly and then we -- when we look at the mix of traffic with promotions and without, is there any plan for publishing or getting some data on color on how this splits between the two segments for Funan ETR. So how much of traffic is without promotions and how much are the promotion volumes?

Okay. Thank you for your questions. We are not going to disclose no traffic that is coming from promotions of traffic that are paying the toll rate at the normal price. So this -- I mean, you have to see the whole figures, not the traffic and the revenue separately. And it's something that we are not going to disclose any additional information about that. The other effect -- but you have to consider is that comparing the quarter 2 last year to this year, the effect on traffic of the promotions has been slightly positive. So we have a little bit more traffic related to promotions this quarter compared to the quarter last year.

And with this slightly more traffic, what we have been able is to reduce significantly the schedule 22 payments because we have targeted better for those users that are helping to reduce Schedule 22 payment. And in other cases, in which some segments were more traffic than the needed for the threshold, we reduce the promotion. So we have been more effective in order to address which promotions are helping us to reduce schedule with almost a similar slightly above number of traffic related to promotions compared to previous year. So we have been more effective. But in general, I think that the effect of the traffic in promotion has been slightly more than previous year, but not significant.

Makes sense. Maybe just a follow-up there. So none of the segments within the EDR have kind of hit a threshold where the throughput targets are now at the maximum limit [indiscernible]?

Well, I think that is -- if you mean we have traffic that is above the thresholds in some segments. And the answer to that is yes. Because you have a payment. So the question is in segment, you have promotions in those segments that you need to have promotions in order to be above the threshold? Well, that's a different question. And -- and yes, there are some segments like those, but we don't disclose in which ones and how is the mix of that effect of promotions and no proration to reach the test, but we only pay Schedule 22 when we are below the threshold. And in the rest, we are above. And in some of them, we are above with our promotions and not we reach that thanks to the promotions.

[Operator Instructions]. Our last question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I please ask you on the Texas Managed Lanes. And you mentioned earlier the mandatory modes on LBJ are not something imminent. And you flagged that on the NT, the capacity expansion may be a headwind for triggering mandatory modes. So if you have this in mind and we think at 27%, can you talk a bit about the levers of growth in pricing for the Texas Managed Lanes.

We know that pricing is that be close to soft cap or a soft cap for most segments. So can you elaborate what other levers that are there directionally to improve? Is it off big pricing? There is room to increase that? Anything more on trucks or any other levers that could help you grow pricing more than the soft cap next year?

And apologies, one follow-up on the ETR407. I think you've been trialing the loyalty program for frequent users. I believe there were some trials in place the last few months. I was curious what are the plans for the second half? Will you deploy this loyalty program more widely? And how should we think from the perspective of potential dilution to the revenue per transaction related to the loyalty program.

Well, thank you for the questions. And just in the case of the managed lanes, pricing will come several factors. First is the inflation that will increase subcap at the beginning of the year. So it's something that we do every year. Then [indiscernible] is something that could help us. But as you mentioned previously, we expect that 35 ways will continue to have as long as the congestion is increasing and the economic activity in the area is increasing will have more mandatory mods in the 35 West. But in the case of NTE, we will not see that.

We'll see instead of mandatory [indiscernible] traffic. And in the case of LBA, similar to this year, we don't expect mandatory moves that are going to be significant or relevant but we'll see more traffic next year in LPA similar to 0. Of course, all depending on how is the economic activity and other variables that could happen at that time. We may have also some mix effect as usual and this mix effect is having more traffic at peak. And the other effect is having more trucks with more economic activity used to have more trucks than in the past.

So these are the effects that we'll see next year and that will impact the revenues that they will see in the Texas managing for next year. And regarding the 407, yes, we did started with some pilots of the loyalty program. and we have not taken a decision yet how we'll continue with these pilots. And we are doing the pilots with different types of promotions. Some of them are working or there's not -- and based on the results, we take decisions, and we have not decided yet how we will continue with loyalty programs.

There are no further questions at the conference call at this time. I will now hand the line back to Sylvia Ruiz, Head of IR.

I'm not Silvia Ruiz, but I have to give you thank you for following us and well, those of you who are taking vacations. Hopefully, you have a good rest of the summer. Thank you very much for joining us.

Good morning or good afternoon, everyone. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to thank you and welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the company's operating results for the first quarter of 2026.

I'm joined here today by our CFO, Ernesto Lopez Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and presentation were made available on our website, sorry, yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. Separately, we note that the company's 2026 investor presentation and fact book is expected to be available on the company's website shortly after this conference call concludes. [Operator Instructions]

Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties so actual figures may differ.

During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report and on our website.

With all this, I will hand over to Ernesto. Ernesto, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia, and good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review Ferrovial's results for the first quarter of 2026.

Starting, I mean, overall, the first quarter was a solid start to the year with strong growth across our core businesses, particularly in North American highways. Also continued progress at the new Terminal 1 at JFK, stable construction margins despite higher upfront bidding and IT investments to support future growth.

And from a financial perspective, net debt, excluding infrastructure projects, was reported as negative net debt or net cash, amounting to EUR 1.2 billion. The primary sources of cash included a construction operating cash flow of EUR 144 million. On the other hand, the principal cash outflow consisted of treasury shares purchases totaling EUR 162 million.

On a consolidated basis, revenue grew 10.2% on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15% also like-for-like and adjusted EBIT grew 10.6% like-for-like as well.

Let's move now to the 407 ETR. The asset delivered another strong quarter. Traffic increased by 8.2% in the first quarter of 2026, driven by the continued use of targeted driving offers as well as an increase in mobility and rush hour commuting from a higher percentage of on-site employees. This was partially offset by unfavorable winter weather. Revenue grew 20% with toll revenues growing by 22.1% in the quarter, reflecting a combination of higher toll rates that were effective since the 1st of January 2026 and higher traffic volumes.

As a result, EBITDA increased by 25.4% versus the first quarter of 2025, including a Schedule 22 provision of CAD 8.1 million, significantly lower than the one we recorded in the first quarter last year.

On the other hand, operating costs were higher, driven by higher customer operations, also higher highway operations that are related to worse weather requiring higher winter maintenance and higher system operations that increased with more segmented promotions implementation.

When looking at the monthly traffic performance compared to 2025, as shown in the graph, it is important to bear in mind that in the first quarter of 2026, traffic performance reflects 3 months of promotions, targeted promotions compared to the first quarter of 2025, where promotions started in March on a broad basis. So it was only 1 month, and this has an impact on the traffic comparability.

I will also highlight that the demand segmentation strategy continues to work really well. It is helping us to balance pricing, traffic distribution and service levels while maximizing EBITDA, which remains the key financial performance metric for the asset. This more segmented approach could distort the traffic comparison going forward since promotions last year were broadly based.

Regarding dividend distribution, no dividends were paid in the first quarter, but the Board approved a CAD 500 million dividend to be paid in the second quarter of 2026.

Now we move to Dallas-Fort Worth. And here, the managed lanes posted double-digit revenue per transaction growth, significantly outperforming U.S. inflation. And this was despite the negative impact on traffic from adverse weather, particularly in January, including more managed lanes closures than in the first quarter of 2025.

Let's look at each of the assets. At NTE, traffic declined 3.6%, reflecting the impact of capacity improvement construction works and adverse weather, particularly in January. These works are expected to be completed by year-end, except for 2 additional ramps that began construction last year. Despite lower traffic, revenue increased by 13.1% in the first quarter and adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.2%, including the accrual of $2.4 million of revenue share in the quarter.

Regarding LBJ, traffic declined 1.5% due to construction works in adjacent corridors and weather impacts. Revenue increased by 9.8% and adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.9%.

At NTE35 West, traffic increased 1%, and this is also despite adverse weather and congestion at certain entry and exit points as well as the finalization of capacity restrictions linked to construction works on competing nearby Road 121.

Revenue increased by 18.3%. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 18.1%, and this includes $7.5 million of revenue sharing accrued in the quarter.

Looking at the revenue per transaction, all assets increased well above inflation. NTE revenue per transaction was up 18.3%, LBJ up 11.5% and NTE35 West up 17.3%. This was driven by several factors: a favorable traffic mix with higher heavy traffic volumes, thanks mostly to technology enhancements in camera recognition implemented throughout 2025 and '26 with this improved vehicle classification and higher overall commercial and heavy vehicles. Also, we had a higher number of mandatory mode events at NTE and NTE35 West.

Let's go now to the I-66 and I-77, our managed lanes in Virginia and North Carolina. At I-66, we saw a very solid quarter. Traffic increased by 8.3% compared to first quarter last year, showing a strong resilience despite adverse weather. This was supported by the growth in mobility across the corridor and our ability to capture value through dynamic pricing. Revenue per transaction grew close to 5%, 4.9% in the quarter and revenue in the quarter grew in total 13.6% versus last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 16.1% in the quarter.

At I-77, traffic declined by 5.6% versus last year, mainly due to adverse weather together with the exceptional performance in the first quarter last year. Remember that then alternative routes remained partially closed following hurricane-related events. Despite the traffic decline, revenue per transaction increased by 14.2%, reflecting higher toll rates. Adjusted EBITDA declined 11.9% compared to the first quarter last year. This was negatively impacted by the step-up in the revenue share band from 25% to 55% revenue share. This is largely a first-year effect and is expected to normalize as revenues continue to grow within the new share band. First quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA included the accrual of $8 million of revenue share.

Well, regarding airports, starting with the new Terminal 1 at JFK, the project continues to progress through a crucial year for construction and integration. In terms of schedule, as we explained in the full year 2025 earnings, the contractor has communicated an updated target where the completion date for the first phase falls in the fall of 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, the first operational readiness and airport transfer trials began during the quarter, and the project reached 87% construction progress.

Airline engagement continues against a challenging backdrop. We have secured commitments with 30 airlines, including 21 executed agreements and 9 letters of intent. As of March 2026, total equity invested stands at EUR 978 million, and we have EUR 64 million pending that are expected to be injected in 2026.

At Dalaman, the first quarter reflects the typical off-peak season. Domestic traffic supported performance and traffic increasing by 9.8%, while the international volumes were affected by geopolitical challenges in the Middle East. On a full year basis, the airports remains predominantly international with the peak season starting in late March and is expected to be affected by the instability in the Middle East.

Moving to construction. Margins remained stable year-on-year, while -- I mean, there were higher bidding and IT costs aimed at supporting future growth as we have explained in past quarters. Regarding the operations in the different geographies, Budimex maintained stable margins at 6.5% EBIT despite lower volumes due to adverse weather. Webber delivered higher margins, benefiting from increased production and operating leverage. Ferrovial Construction margins were slightly lower due to higher investment costs related to bidding and IT with revenues remaining stable. The order book remained at an all-time high of EUR 17.6 billion, up 0.5% like-for-like versus December, excluding approximately EUR 1.3 billion of additional projects not yet included because they are pending award or financial close.

The composition of the order book remains very healthy given the lower weight of large design and build projects with non-group companies. And almost half of our backlog is in our core U.S. and Canada markets, which we expect will continue to support future growth. The operating cash flow at construction, excluding tax and dividends, amounted to EUR 144 million in the quarter, mainly driven by advanced payments and compensations received in U.S. and Canada.

Now moving to the net debt position and cash flow. Net debt including -- excluding infrastructure projects was negative for, let's say, net cash, EUR 1.2 billion at the end of first quarter 2026. As shown in the bridge, dividends from projects are small, including some dividends from IRB in India and Silvertown Tunnel in the U.K. Remember that dividends also come later in the year in the managed lanes in June and end of the year and also along the year in the 407.

We've also had a solid cash flow from construction that I just mentioned in the previous slide that reflects the payments received together with the compensations and in general, the good performance of the operations. Tax payments are mostly related to Budimex.

In terms of investments, these are mostly related to construction and the equity invested in energy projects, while divestments are largely related to services business sales, earn-outs and so on. Additionally, we repurchased treasury shares for a total amount of EUR 162 million in the quarter. Lastly, the other cash flows from or used in financing activities reached EUR 421 million. This included the issuance of [ CAD 500 ] million bonds that took place in March. Well, we did not include any slide with the scrip dividend, but I'm sure you all got the information. We announced also yesterday the first scrip dividend for an amount of EUR 400 million. Okay.

So thanks for your attention, and I now hand back to Silvia to open up the Q&A session.

Okay. Thank you very much, Ernesto. So let's start now with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Maybe I'll ask 3 questions, if you allow me. The first one on Texas lanes. You mentioned the building blocks for the price increases, technology, vehicle mix mandatory modes. Could you give us a bit more color on the contribution from each of these blocks and if the tailwinds are sustainable into second quarter and third quarter?

The second one, again, for the U.S. lanes, if we zoom in on the last couple of months when gasoline prices in the U.S. are up 30% to 50%, could you tell us a bit more how does traffic look like in the context of that? And any color you could give us? Is traffic off-peak suffering or leisure traffic a bit weaker or any other changes in behavior of the users?

And the last one, please, the ETR 407, you talk about the introduction of a loyalty program going forward. Could you elaborate a bit on the start date, the rationale behind introducing it and any details on how it will work?

Okay. Thanks, Cristian. Well, let me see what kind of color without giving really numbers I can give you. I mean, regarding the, let's say, the revenue per transaction performance, technology has been implemented still, I mean, a little bit remaining, but mostly done in technology to better identify cars. That was the main driver started last year, as I said, also this quarter as well. That is the main driver.

But in second place, yes, we've seen underlying better performance of heavy and commercial. It's not to the same scale, but it has contributed. And then the third one would be mandatory modes. Please allow me not to give you the split here. These things tend to be commercially sensitive.

The first one, yes, will, let's say, diminish the impact in the coming months. The rest we'll see. We have to monitor the economy, and this is related to the second question. I mean, yes, gasoline prices have been going up. We haven't identified any significant movement. Always, of course, when gasoline prices go up, they affect, but people tend to do the trips they have to do. We'll have to see a sustained situation of higher prices to maybe see a different development. So we'll have to monitor that. But so far, we haven't seen anything really significant. It's also true that the economy is something that is important that has kept performing, right? So no news yet. We'll keep monitoring that.

Well, regarding the 407 ETR, I mean, there's no details I can share on loyalty schemes. But usually, this kind of schemes is about providing value in terms of trips to people that reach some levels of consumption, things like that. But I mean, it's still being designed and also, let's say, commercially sensitive. We will update more when we launch, and we will keep updating in other quarters. But that's kind of the basics is what I mentioned.

Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

So I have 3, I think. First of all, on the U.S. managed lanes in Q1, we saw traffic -- I mean, you mentioned traffic has been impacted by one-offs in Q1. So maybe you could help us understand the impact that those one-offs had on Q1 traffic and revenues. Second, could you give us an update on your U.S. managed lane pipeline and bidding process?

And third, related to that second question, I was wondering if your shareholder return policy is dependent on any managed lane wins? And therefore, do we need to wait until you have more visibility on that until we have an update on your shareholder return policy, which I think the last time you guided on that was at the last CMD for '24, '26. So basically, the question is when are we going to get an update? Are you planning to do something at the end of this year, maybe beginning of '27? And is this dependent on the win of any new projects?

Okay. So thanks, Elodie. So I cannot give much detailed numbers on whether January was worse. I mean we don't provide this specific detail, but it was part of the drop in traffic. It was most relevant in the construction works that really affect the overall corridor, right? So yes, it affected negatively. But I mean, if I were to highlight NTE and LBJ is more affected by the construction, either in the corridor on the adjacent corridors.

Regarding the bidding process, we expect to have news on the awards. And -- well, this is, I guess, public information from Tennessee in late August and from Atlanta in October, mid- to late October. That's the expectation at the moment for the awards.

And then regarding the let's say, the future strategy, yes, we are finalizing 2026. That was the last one provided. And yes, the strategy of growth and remuneration are linked. We're not talking only about these projects, but growth in general. So we will shape our distribution in line with the growth we expect in the different business and perspectives. When will we update that, yes, probably will have to be not this year, but early next year. But this has to be decided. And yes, we will have to see how we balance growth and remuneration.

Our next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Cheuvreux.

First of all, apologies if you've already covered my questions. I had some technical issues. But my 3 questions are the following. Can we read anything, Ernesto, into the significant increase in dividends for the 407 ETR versus last year? Can we extrapolate for the rest of the year?

The second question is if there are any penalties associated to the contractor's delayed completion of the NTO projects? I mean, penalties or basic payments to you. And the final question is the average revenue per transaction on the I-66 was below the other assets in terms of year-on-year growth. Can you provide some light on the drivers behind this?

Okay. Thanks, Luis. So yes, the 407 had a higher dividend, both related to performance and better financing, let's say, additional debt. This is something that we have discussed in other conference calls. The 407 has some leeway that we will have to see a long time, how we are optimizing that. So please forgive me for not providing guidance for the dividends for this year, but clearly, it has started higher and that performance is very good. So looking forward to the remainder of the year, we'll see how it finalizes.

Then the -- sorry, the -- yes, the second question was on NTO, right, with any potential penalties, I guess it's to us, not the contractor. I mean if it's to us, I mean, it would have to be a huge delay to start having some sort of penalties, right? So it have to be beyond June 2027 to get some sort of small penalty for us. So not expected to happen. Yes, the contractor, we can apply [ LDs ] if there's no fulfillment. And that's something that, of course, has to be settled a long time.

And then regarding the I-66, it's true, has a lower revenue per transaction. I wouldn't try to read anything there regarding elasticity. I mean we've seen more widespread traffic along the day. That area is having more business activity during the midday. So yes, I mean, I think that the performance of the asset is positive, and we shouldn't read into this kind of a slowing down in revenue per transaction. We'll have to keep looking at it going forward.

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

Just 2 questions from me, I think. First one, I'm just trying to get my head around a little bit of these sort of bottlenecks and congestion zones around the Texas lanes and how much they might be impacting traffic. I don't know if there's any additional color you can give on just some of the adjacent activity that's going on, which is impacting your assets there in Texas and any timing that you're seeing on the ground when that might alleviate, which obviously would be sort of a negative from your perspective or just a bit more sort of, I guess, on the ground color as it seems like there's a number of different sort of factors going on there and just that's affecting performance positively today?

And then second question, really just on the managed lane market beyond what you've already mentioned in the report. I think Maryland PPP market seems to be warming up after being very cold for a long time. There's been -- Pennsylvania mentioned other airports. Any color on just project pipeline that you're seeing beyond what's kind of announced that might be sort of adding into the funnel further up would be interesting.

Okay. Let me see what I can tell you here. Well, really, traffic in NTE is directly affecting the corridor, right? It's true that also, I mean, at peak time, we could have mandatory modes that are related to, I mean, less width or capacity at the road, right? So when it opens, yes, the corridor should come back and it has declined on an important manner in the last 3 years, right? So we'll have to see how that balances out.

Regarding the 35 West, yes, you have some limiting your capture due to these bottlenecks. It's also true that congestion is higher, so you have some mandatory modes, right? So we don't have visibility on when there will be a solution to this bottlenecks. We'll update as soon as we have.

Regarding LBJ, we have different roads that should affect LBJ throughout 2026. These are roads that are not, let's say, controlled by us. So yes, expectation is that they will be completed around 2026 and open in 2027. But I mean that's information that is provided by the grantor. We'll have to see if it materializes. But 2026 should definitely be still affected, right? So I don't know, Graham, if that covered what we were addressing. Sorry, I cannot give more specific details.

No, that's helpful. And then just on the pipeline, I guess.

Yes. And the pipeline -- well, the pipeline, the -- I mean, what I can say is that in general, there's more support for P3s. We'll see how that materializes, accelerates. But yes, the background is better. I think that really Tennessee and Atlanta are bringing some projects that others are watching. And the fact that you can ease pressure on government or state finances with a much needed infrastructure through P3 is attractive. So the only thing I can say is that there's some momentum, but we don't have visibility on them coming to the market finally or dates or so that we will keep updating.

Our following question comes from Harishankar Ramamoorthy from Deutsche Bank.

A couple of them, if that's okay. You've provided the breakup of traffic by month for 407 ETR. That's very helpful. Would we be getting something similar for the U.S. managed lanes, please?

And second, when I look at the 407 ETR traffic performance, obviously, you mentioned that because the base did not have the promotions, that's that impact flowing through. But if you kind of strip that out, then would you see traffic growth more or less in line with what you see with March? Or what's the underlying momentum been for, say, Jan, Feb and March?

Okay. So thanks for the questions. No, we won't be providing more granularity on the managed lanes. I know this could be a little bit frustrating, but I mean, it's commercially sensitive for the different things that we've mentioned from light, heavies and also mostly traffic. So no, we don't have plans to provide that information as in the 407.

Regarding the 407 traffic, please bear something in mind. I mean, last year, we had promotions that were very broad, like I mean, people were getting the same kind of promotions. That didn't really address segmentation properly. Now we have promotions that are targeted, and that could distort traffic comparisons. Really, we have to focus more on the revenue growth and the total revenue growth specifically. So that could come with not necessarily higher traffic, right? So just bear in mind that, that comparison will be distorted. I'm sorry, we cannot provide more information so this is commercially sensitive. But traffic is not going to be a driver. I mean, the segmentation is different this year.

No problem, Ernesto. I was just trying to get to any potential color on how the fuel price at the pump might have impacted traffic. But are you seeing anything of that sort with March exit rates?

I mean not really that we could differentiate. There's always some slight negative elasticity. Really, that sometimes happens with an economy that is performing and they turn to wash out. So far, the economies where we operate have been okay. So we will have to see if this lingers, I mean, how it could affect. But I mean, nothing that we can really highlight in the first quarter.

Our next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

I have 3 questions. So to come back to this point. If I understood correctly, you mentioned that you didn't see much of an impact of higher fuel prices on the U.S. Express Lanes. Can you maybe comment on the 407 ETR given the 1% traffic growth in March?

The second question is on NTO. The construction, you mentioned that the operational readiness trials have started. This sounds like a positive message. So I'm just wondering whether you now feel more confident that the time line for opening this terminal will be the fall of 2026.

And the third and last question, a bit technical on the tax expense on the P&L. It was a EUR 60 million positive for the full year 2025. What should we expect for '26?

Okay. So thanks, Dario. Well, regarding fuel prices, I mean, what I said is that, yes, when you have higher fuel prices, you have some negative elasticity. I mean, in the short term, if the economy is performing, I mean, the economic performance tends to wash out to compensate for that and people make the trips that they have to make. I mean, we will have to see if this takes longer, yes, it could affect.

So far, we don't have any evidence of any impact in the first quarter, right? But we will have to keep monitoring that. That is similar in the 407 in Toronto. So there has been higher mobility with higher return to the office. It's true that in terms of economy in heavy construction and trucks related to car parts movements and that kind of business has been slower. But I mean, the overall economy has seen higher mobility.

When we talk about traffic regarding the 407 and March, I will again refer to the explanation I've been giving throughout the call. Promotions are very different this year, right? So last year, they were broadly based. Now they are more segmented, right? So maybe we have a situation where we are growing our revenues handsomely, but traffic doesn't grow that much or even falls, right? So traffic has been clearly affected by promotions. It's something that we manage and we target, right? So throughout last year, we got a lot of experience. Right now, they are more targeted, and we should really focus more on the financial result because segmentation is going to bring different traffic patterns.

Then the question regarding NTO, yes, the contractor has provided that finalization for Phase A date in the fall of 2026. It can be done with the right resources. It's not under our control. I mean, we push for this. Eventually, I mean, we need the contractor to deliver with their resources. So yes, we expect it to happen there. And if there's any slippage, I mean, not to be a long one.

So yes, when we talk about finalization of construction, we also talk about the start of operations. I mean that's something that goes hand-in-hand because we do the operational readiness, I mean, the months before, right? And we are not talking about civil works. We're talking about the whole construction and operations starting, not having, let's say, any lead time between construction finalization and the start of operations. So that's the idea. The expectation is fall to 2026, as we mentioned.

And then regarding taxes, well, I mean, the last year, the accounting number that you mentioned is related to some one-offs. Really, when we focus into the cash component, the efficiency of the tax groups means that while we are developing new projects, I mean, we don't expect any really impact in the U.S. We pay taxes in Canada and Poland mainly and slightly in Spain, right? But I mean, while we are developing business in the U.S., this is not happening, right? So I cannot provide you any guidance, just this kind of framework for any model you may be doing.

Our next question comes from José Manuel Arroyas from Santander.

I wanted to come back to 2 answers you provided earlier. First is on 407 ETR and the ability to relever the asset. What's the extent of the opportunities? And what are the metrics that you are looking at? Is it debt service coverage ratios? Is it net debt to EBITDA? Any color there would be helpful. And then on NTE, I wanted also to ask you about a clarification on the risk of mandatory modes diminishing next year once construction works end related to the expansion. Is that risk significant or moderate going into next year?

Thank you. Thanks for the question. Okay. Let me see how I can address those. Well, regarding the 407 ETR, leverage is assessed on a debt service coverage ratio. But I've always mentioned that you shouldn't expect in the 407 big recaps just to optimize the structure along the different years, trending more to the SCR that don't have so much headroom, right? So that's the level. I don't provide a target. That's something that -- well, right now, it's clearly above 2x, but we cannot provide the level that we could be targeting a long time. But yes, there's some headroom there, as you rightly pointed out. Please don't think of big recaps here.

Then regarding NTE, well, we have 2 effects once we open, right? I mean one of them is there's going to be more capacity that lowers mandatory modes that don't wait that much now. That's important to bear in mind. And it also comes with people that have left the corridor coming back to the corridor, right? And the fall in the corridor traffic has been substantial, right? So these 2 effects will play. We are not providing any guidance. The only thing when we're talking about the risk of this mandatory and NTE hasn't been that, let's say, relevant. They have played a role, but it's not the bulk of the revenue growth at all. It could be in the future, but not now.

Our following question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

So my first question, you are obviously continuing to roll out customer discounts for the 407 ETR. But is there any update on the possibility of rolling out some sort of discounts or incentives or loyalty programs for the U.S. managed lanes? And do you see a way for this to potentially allow you to optimize EBITDA of these assets?

Question number two, I mean, you mentioned technology enhancements helping your revenue per transaction on the U.S. managed lanes. But are you referring to perhaps reducing toll evasion or perhaps some trips being billed correctly? Or you're just more generally talking about improving your pricing mechanism and pricing algorithm? And if I can squeeze in one more very quickly. Thinking about higher dividends and potential recaps of infrastructure assets, is the I-66 another asset on top of the 407 ETR where there is, in your view, some headroom in terms of the balance sheet and the possibility to distribute more generous dividends?

Thanks, Marcin. Thanks for all the questions. I mean, we are working -- I mean, it's not something that is readily available, but we are working on the possibility of promotions and therefore, more segmentation in all the U.S. highways. Yes, we are working on that. So in the future, that could help. Yes. But I mean, we are not there yet. We will update the market. I mean we're working on it. We will update the market when we reach something.

In terms of the technology, what it has helped is to identify commercial vehicles and heavies that were not properly identified before, nothing to do with evasion. We don't face any, let's say, collectibility -- collecting risk in the Express Lanes in Dallas-Fort Worth. It has been about identification of commercials and heavies.

And then the third question, yes, the I-66 has potential for recap as was in the, let's say, bid business plan that was submitted for reference. So it won't be this year nor the next, but it's not far away, but it's not this year or the next that we will see a recap in the I-66.

[Operator Instructions] Our final question comes from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley.

Just a quick one on the 407. Just if I understand correctly, so you're basically preparing us for potentially for softer traffic sequentially, but for much higher capture of price rises that you've done in '25, '26. So it means basically lower -- I mean, does this mean lower discounting on an absolute terms from here because it's more targeted? And does it also imply you now with the current traffic levels, you're very comfortable where that traffic puts you versus the scheduled '22 risk?

Well, thanks, Nicolas. I mean you are reading into what I said. I'm not confirming or denying I'm saying that traffic shouldn't be comparable. And yes, we could have lower traffic, but maybe we're doing better. But I mean, I'm not saying if it's going to be lower or higher, just that it's more important to follow the other metric, as you rightly point out. And yes, regarding the Schedule 22, we have provided for a number that takes into account all these effects that we were considering when we were budgeting. So yes, that's what we are expecting for Schedule 22 to reflect.

And if I may, last one on -- talking about the reopening of the end of the construction works on NTE and maybe in the adjacent to LBJ into late '26, '27, your -- do you have a sense of how much traffic you might have lost versus trend and that you may recover once the asset go back to normal?

Well, we are not providing figures on the corridor because also that would mean we would be providing figures on our capture rate. We are on a commercially sensitive, I mean, ball game now. So no, we're not providing that. I would say that NTE, yes, the traffic reduction in the past 3 years in the corridor has been important. Our capture rate has held well. So I mean, that's all I can comment.

And our final question comes from Marc Ip from Citi.

I've got one here just actually on the construction business. The EBIT margins, 3.1% in the first quarter. I'm just wondering how should we think about that in the context throughout the year and against your kind of long-term 3.5% target? And then following from that, maybe on the Ferrovial Construction business, can you just give a little bit more color on what you've seen with the higher costs there and whether that will drive any sort of margin benefit in the later periods from that?

Well, regarding construction margins, the only guidance we have is our let's say, standing long-term average 3.5% EBIT margin. As I said, it's an average. The backlog is healthy. We are not providing, let's say, guidance for margins this year. But I mean, you can see from the cash performance or anything that the backlog is healthy. So our only guidance is long term and that we stick to that. The -- sorry, what was the second question?

Just a bit more color on the Ferrovial construction cost.

Yes, of course, regarding the cost -- yes, sorry, sorry. I mean, basically, the -- all these costs are related to bidding. They -- I mean, it's true that we'll be like a next year, but we will also keep looking at other developments. So this year is going to be affected by this kind of bidding and IT costs. Going forward, it could be different depending on our success, yes.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand it back to the Ferrovial team. Your line is open.

Thank you. Thank you all for your questions. There were a couple of questions on the webcast, but we understand that all of them have been already answered. So there are no more questions.

Well, thanks a lot. Thanks for attending the call, and well, looking forward to meeting you shortly. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone. The Board and I welcome you to Ferrovial's 2026 Shareholders' Meeting, which is hereby declared open. I would like to thank you all for attending, whether here in person, by proxy or online. Let me introduce the members of the Board who are present.

Vice Chairman, Oscar Fanjul; CEO, Ignacio Madridejos; Maria del Pino; Jose Fernando Sanchez-Junco, Philip Bowman, Bruno Di Leo, Lead Director, Juan Hoyos, Gonzalo Urquijo and Hildegard Wortmann. Elisenda Bou-Balust, whose appointment as Nonexecutive Director has been proposed to the shareholders' meeting is also present.

We also have Esther van der Vleuten with us today, representing PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V., Ferrovial's external auditor and assurance provider for the nonfinancial information for the financial year 2025. The meeting will be held in English. No Dutch has spoken yet, I'm sorry, and can also be followed in Spanish through simultaneous translation, both here and online.

I now give the floor to the Secretary of the Board of this meeting, Geerte Hesen, who will explain the procedural aspects of the meeting.

Thank you. Good afternoon, and also a warm welcome from me to all attendees of this 2026 Shareholders' Meeting. First, I note that the shareholders' meeting has been convened in accordance with Ferrovial's Articles of Association and Dutch law and that all requirements have been met so that the shareholders' meeting may adopt the proposed resolutions as set out in the agenda.

I will now explain the process for asking questions during the meeting. As stated in the convocation notice, shareholders have 2 options to submit questions. Those participating via the online platform were able to submit questions in writing until 24 hours prior to the meeting. No such questions have been submitted. Those here in person were able to submit questions in writing with the same deadline and microphones are available to ask questions today.

To conduct an orderly meeting, we will open the floor to take questions from participants at a single moment, which will be after the presentations relating to agenda item 2 have finished. Accordingly, at this time, questions may be asked regarding all agenda items.

If you wish to ask a question, a microphone will be brought to you. State your name clearly and keep your question as short and concise as possible, referring to the item on the agenda. If you are a proxy holder, please also state the name of the shareholder that you represent.

For the proper conduct of business at the meeting, the Chairman may limit the speaking time and/or the number of questions. The Chairman will also determine who is best positioned to answer your questions. Since the meeting is held in English, questions should be posed in English. Responses will also be in that language. Questions may be posed in Spanish, in which case, our response will be in English. I will now give a brief explanation of the voting process.

Shareholders who are here in person can vote using their mobile device or the voting device that you received at the registration desk. If you are not logged in, please log in now. In case you have any difficulty with the login procedure, please raise your hand and someone will come to assist you.

Shareholders participating through our online platform will be able to vote in real time during the meeting. Voting via the online platform is subject to Ferrovial's terms and conditions for hybrid shareholder meetings. These terms and conditions have made available on Ferrovial's website.

Mr. Bart Jan Kuck, who is present today as independent third-party civil law notary has been authorized to exercise voting proxies and instructions during the shareholders' meeting. Voting will be opened following the discussion of agenda item 2. Once voting is open, you will have the opportunity to vote on all agenda items until we reach agenda item 12, closing.

In other words, you do not have to wait for an agenda item to cast your vote. In order to vote, you have to press the button of your choice for, against or abstain. Once you have selected the option of your choice, a confirmation will be shown on screen. If you would like to change your vote, easily select the button corresponding to your new choice.

You can change your vote until the voting process closes. Registration details for this meeting are currently being processed. Once all information is available, I will announce the percentage of Ferrovial's share capital that is represented at the meeting and how many votes can be cast. At that time and following discussion of agenda Item 2, the voting will be opened.

We now come to agenda Item 2A related to the report on Ferrovial's financial and nonfinancial performance for 2025. In 2025, Ferrovial delivered robust performance across all business divisions. Most importantly, our North American highway assets continued to deliver outstanding revenue and EBITDA growth.

The new Terminal 1 at JFK kept progressing with focus on operational readiness later this year. And construction's profitability improved, surpassing the long-term target and closed the year with a record order book. As a result, revenue reached EUR 9.6 billion, up 8.6% from 2024 on a like-for-like basis.

Adjusted EBITDA stood at EUR 1.5 billion, representing a 12.2% increase also on a like-for-like basis over 2024. Net profit was EUR 888 billion. Ex infrastructure liquidity amounted to EUR 5.1 billion. And consolidated net debt, excluding projects, was minus EUR 1.3 billion, driven mostly by record dividends of EUR 968 million received from infra assets. In 2025, Ferrovial closed their divestment of its remaining 5.25% stake in Heathrow Airport for a total amount of EUR 539 million and sold AGS Airports for EUR 533 million. The year was also quite active in terms of investments with a total of EUR 2 billion of committed capital.

This was mainly allocated to highways and airports with the acquisition of an additional 5% stake in 407 ETR in Toronto and equity injections of EUR 236 million in the new Terminal 1 at JFK Airport.

Ferrovial also joined the NASDAQ 100 Index in December, just 1.5 years after the initial U.S. listing. This milestone is a consequence of our growing presence in North America and of the confidence investors place in our long-term strategy.

Ferrovial shares ended 2025 at EUR 55.34, having appreciated 36.3% in the year compared with 49% of the IBEX 35 index and 20% of NASDAQ. Total shareholder return in the period measured as a combination of share price appreciation and dividends paid was 38.6%. The share price at yesterday disclosed was EUR 59.78, having appreciated 8% year-to-date. Market capitalization stood at EUR 43.8 billion. Total dividends in 2025, combining shares and cash were EUR 626 million. We aim to implement in 2026, subject to the Board's discretion, one or more interim scrip dividends for a cash equivalent amount of around EUR 1 billion.

This will bring total dividends for the period '24 to '26 to EUR 2.2 billion. Strong governance is one of Ferrovial's essentials value, and we believe that it leads to long-term value creation and build shareholders' trust. This is why over 2/3 of Board members qualify as independent directors and 100% of the Audit and Control Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee members are independent.

Following the adoption of U.S. governance requirements, we have updated the Board rules and aligned our governance with the latest provision of the Dutch Corporate Governance rule code. Ferrovial is also committed to the highest environmental, social and governance standards and is included in globally recognized sustainability indexes such as the Dow Jones Best-in-Class Index and Carbon Disclosure Project Climate Change A List. Health and safety are top priorities, and we uphold the highest standards. We made substantial progress in 2025. However, we did not achieve our zero fatality goal.

In February 2025, Ferrovial's emissions reduction targets were revalidated by the science-based targets initiative. We also delivered a goal of ethics training to our employees, including blue collar workers to enhance our compliance program. Ferrovial's work was recognized in 2025 with a range of awards in sustainability, innovation, finance and Best Place to Work.

Some of our projects and assets were also recognized such as the Silvertown Tunnel in London, the Ontario Line project in Toronto and several [ weather ] projects in Texas to highlight a few. To conclude, 2025 was an excellent year for Ferrovial. And looking ahead, we are well positioned for continued growth, supported by a record pipeline of U.S. infrastructure projects and rising interest in public-private partnership opportunities across the country. This, together with the best talent, operational excellence and financial discipline will allow us to continue generating value for all stakeholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank you, our shareholders as well as our customers and suppliers for your trust and support. I also want to express our gratitude to the more than 22,500 employees spread around the world for their ongoing dedication to the company.

Their combined effort has been instrumental in Ferrovial's success and in providing essential infrastructure to support a world on the move. I'll now give the floor to Ignacio Madridejos, CEO.

Thank you, Rafael, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a privilege to share with you Ferrovial's performance in 2025 as well as our priorities for 2026. Building on the achievements outlined by the Chairman, let me underscore those highlights that contributed to an outstanding performance last year. 2025 was marked by a strong operating performance, capital rotation activity and significant progress in our U.S. pipeline.

Our highways in North America experienced significant growth in revenue per transaction. Additionally, the Construction division delivered a good performance with a record order book and exceeding the profitability target for the year.

Finally, we're included in the NASDAQ 100, reflecting investor confidence in our distinctive business model and growth strategy in the U.S. Now we'll take a closer look at the results achieved during the year. In terms of key figures, revenues increased by 8.6% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis, reaching EUR 9.6 billion due to higher contributions from highways and construction.

Adjusted EBITDA grew 12.2% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis to EUR 1.5 billion, and net profit stood at EUR 888 million. Turning our attention to the contribution by business units. 79% of revenues came from construction, 14% from highways, 4% from energy, 1% from airports and the remaining 2% from others. Regarding the adjusted EBITDA, EUR 990 million came from highways, EUR 511 million from construction, EUR 37 million from airports and EUR 3 million from energy.

Geographically, the United States and Canada represented around 40% of revenues; Poland, 23%; Spain, 20%; the United Kingdom, 8%; and other countries, 9%. Notably, the United States and Canada contributed EUR 950 million in adjusted EBITDA; Poland, EUR 255 million; and Spain, EUR 240 million, broadly surpassing the figures of the preceding year.

These figures underline the importance of the North American market and confirm the strong results achieved by Budimex, our construction subsidiary in Poland, along with our operations in Spain. In 2025, the cash flows from operating activities experienced a positive trend, supported by significant contributions from the highways and construction businesses.

Cash flow from operating activities, excluding taxes, reached EUR 1.385 million. Highways contributed through dividends amounting to EUR 880 million, while airports added EUR 30 million in dividends. Construction contributed EUR 597 million, Energy, EUR 85 million, and the rest of the outflows came from corporate and business divisions headquarters.

Overall, dividends from projects reached an all-time high of EUR 968 million. At the close of 2025, the consolidated net debt of infrastructure project companies stood at minus EUR 1.3 billion, a solid cash position, meaning a reduction of more than EUR 450 million compared to the previous year due to the higher investments.

Turning to the performance of the Highways division. Revenues reached EUR 1.4 billion, a substantial 13.7% increase like-for-like compared to the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA reached EUR 919 million, up from by 12.2% like-for-like. All our North American assets distributed dividends last year.

We received EUR 452 million from the 407 ETR and EUR 403 million from the U.S. Managed Lanes. Shifting to traffic, the 407 ETR reported 6.1% growth, supported by increased mobility in the area and promotional offers. In 2025, we implemented promotions on a large scale for the first time throughout the whole year.

This helped us with segmentation, created value for users and maximize EBITDA in this asset. In the U.S., the Dallas-Fort Worth corridor remained strong. However, the traffic in our assets was negatively impacted by construction works.

The NTE35 West recorded 2.9% growth, while the LBA remaining flat and the NTE registered a 4.7% decrease. The I-66 grew by 7.4% and the I-77 declined by 2%.

Moving to revenue per trip. The 407 ETR reported an 11.7% increase in 2025 and Express Lanes in the U.S. also experienced solid growth in revenue per transaction during the period. NTE registered a 13.4% increase, LBA, 8.7%; 35 West, 11.6%; I-66, 13.3% and I-77, 24.7%.

Finally, let's take a look at the EBITDA. All the North American assets improved during the year. The 407 ETR increased by 14.2%. And in the U.S., NTE registered a 5.5% rise, LBA 9.2%; 35 West, 10.6%; I-66, 25.7% and I-77, 16.5%.

Now turning our attention to Airports performance. The new Terminal 1 continue making a steady progress towards starting operation in 2026. The project reached physical progress of up to 82% by the end of 2025. Commercial agreements have continued to progress, resulting in commitments from 25 airlines, including contracts executed with 16 companies and 9 letters of intent, as well as advanced negotiations with several carriers.

2025 was also a key year for NTO project financing with a successful issuance of the $1.4 billion Series 2025 Green Bonds. Dalaman Airport welcomed 5.6 million passengers, slightly below the previous year as the macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical challenges in the Middle East impacted international traffic.

Revenues reached EUR 85 million and adjusted EBITDA was EUR 66 million, increasing by 3.6% and 2.5%, respectively, compared to the previous year. In July 2025, Ferrovial completed the divestment of its 5.25% stake in Heathrow Airport for EUR 539 million. Previously, at the end of January, we closed the sale of our 50% stake in AGS for EUR 533 million.

Now let's focus on Construction. Our Construction business saw a 7.5% increase in revenues to EUR 7.7 billion on a like-for-like basis. Adjusted EBIT totaled EUR 352 million, resulting in a 4.6% adjusted EBIT margin, exceeding the average long-term profitability target. Ex-infrastructure cash flow from operating activities reached EUR 597 million, reflecting our ability to generate cash and support ongoing operations and investments.

The order book reached an all-time high of EUR 17.4 billion, increasing by 10.1% like-for-like compared to the previous year. North America holds the largest share accounting for 46%, followed by Poland with 22%, Spain with 14% and the United Kingdom with 12%.

Last year, Ferrovial was awarded several key projects in some of its main markets. Just to list a few of them, the construction of a pump station on the I-35 project in Austin, improvement works at Fort Worth, Eagle Mountain Water Treatment Plant and the I-95 corridor in South Carolina, design and building of track infrastructure for high-speed rail project connecting London to Birmingham, construction of railway line section in Poland, improvements to the urban environment along the northern section of the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid.

I will focus now on sustainability. As the Chairman mentioned earlier, sustainability is a key pillar in Ferrovial's strategy to create value for the business, the communities in which we operate and all our stakeholders. Every year, we measure key performance indicators to assess progress and the level of implementation and achievement of the strategy, and most of them are progressing well.

Specifically, I would like to highlight a 35.7% cut in the Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions versus base year 2020, a 22.4% drop in water consumption versus base year 2017 and a 76.2% recycling rate for construction and demolition debris. In 2025, Ferrovial emissions reduction targets in line with the 1.5 Celsius degrees trajectory were validated by the science-based target initiative.

The validated targets aim to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions by 42% and our Scope 3 absolute emissions by 25%, both by 2030 and compared to base year 2020. Moving to our people, our greatest strength by placing care, trust and accountability at the center of our approach to health and safety, we have strengthened individual and collective resilience.

This commitment ensures our teams are prepared, supported and able to work safely in all conditions, protecting one another while sustaining long-term performance. In 2025, we registered a serious injury and fatality frequency rate of 0.56, meaning a 17.8% reduction compared to 2022.

Despite implementing stronger measures, we didn't meet our zero fatalities goal. We remain strongly committed to making every effort needed to reach this vital organizational goal. We reinforced our commitment to society, especially to local communities through our social scheme on the move for people. Just to give you some numbers, EUR 4.6 million were invested in the community in 2025, close to 400,000 people and 350 organizations benefited from our social projects and almost 2,000 employees contributed more than 19,500 hours to social works.

Before closing, I would like to underscore our priorities for 2026. First and foremost, our people. Ferrovial teams are the most important pillar for the organization. As such, we need to ensure the highest standards for health and safety in all our operations in addition to well-being.

In order to seize growth opportunities and generate value, it is essential to recruit and nurture top talent for every role while also strengthening a culture that embraces engagement.

Second, sustainable growth. Our purpose is to develop and operate sustainable, innovative and efficient infrastructure projects with high concessional value to create long-term value for all our stakeholders. Our strategy focuses on the rotation of mature assets, which will allow us to fund future growth opportunities, ensuring maximum return to shareholders.

Thirdly, operational excellence. Ferrovial is committed to optimizing cash generation while maintaining the highest level of operating performance. And finally, innovation. Ferrovial is accelerating the digital transformation throughout its operations, applying artificial intelligence to transform the way of working and improve processes and fostering an innovation and cybersecurity culture.

To close, I wish to reiterate my gratitude to all Ferrovial professionals for their dedication and tireless efforts throughout a remarkable year. Your commitment and hard work drive the company's achievements and are key to success. Also, I want to express my sincere appreciation to our customers for their continued trust as well to our partners and suppliers for joining us in this exciting journey and allowing us to innovate and excel.

Last but certainly not least, I extend a heartfelt thank you to our fellow shareholders for your continued confidence in our company, our leadership team and our purpose to build a bright future for generations to come.

Thank you, Ignacio. This concludes the presentation on agenda item 2A. I give the floor now to the Secretary for the presentation and discussion of Item 2B.

Let me shortly address this agenda item, which is a nonvoting item regarding Ferrovial's dividend policy. As described in the explanatory notes to the agenda, the Board intends to implement one or more interim dividends in 2026 by way of a scrip dividend for a cash equivalent amount of around EUR 1 billion. Shareholders would have the option to receive their dividend in the form of either additional shares or cash. The Board in its sole discretion and in view of the market conditions, the conditions of Ferrovial itself or any other circumstance may elect not to distribute such dividends to pay additional dividends or to pay dividends in either shares only or cash only.

The next item on the agenda is the remuneration report, which has been made available on Ferrovial's website. After the voting opens, you may cast an advisory vote on the remuneration report. I now give the floor to Bruno Di Leo, Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, who will comment on the remuneration report for 2025.

Good afternoon. On behalf of Ferrovial's Nomination and Remuneration Committee, I am pleased to present the 2025 annual report on the Board of Directors' remuneration. The current remuneration policy for the Board was approved at the shareholders' meeting in 2025. The total approved remuneration was [ EUR 2,280,000 million].

This amount was distributed proportionally among the directors based on their participation and responsibilities in the Board committees. As per the new policy, 83% of this remuneration was paid in cash and 17% was paid in equity.

Two of the Board members are Executive Directors, Mr. Rafael del Pino, Executive Chairman; and Mr. Ignacio Madridejos, Chief Executive Officer. In addition to the Board of Directors' regular compensation, both received an additional fixed and variable remuneration for their executive duties.

In 2025, the Executive Chairman earned a total of [ EUR 6,752,000 ] and the Chief Executive Officer earned a total of EUR 5,947,000. This total remuneration was paid in cash as well as in shares according to the approved policy and based on the certified financial statements and with favorable reports by the Audit and Control Committee as well as our external auditors.

The 2025 annual remuneration report has been submitted for an advisory vote in today's General Shareholders' Meeting. In support of this vote, we have published detailed information in our annual report. Looking into the future, the Board is submitting for approval the key terms of the long-term incentive plan for the period 2026 to 2028.

The key terms of the plan are aligned with those submitted to the general shareholders' meeting on previous occasions and with the remuneration policy. We believe that the plan is consistently supporting the long-term goals of Ferrovial, and therefore, it does not require any major changes.

As our closing remarks, in 2025, the Nomination and Remuneration Committee held 4 in-person meetings as well as several remote interactions. The current composition of the committee is in line with the legal requirements and our internal regulations. In 2026, we will continue to actively benchmark ourselves against the marketplaces where we invest and we operate. To ensure our nomination and remuneration policies, first, provide Ferrovial with the ability to recruit and retain the best knowledge and experience relative to the markets where we conduct business.

Second, to remunerate the creation of long-term value, profitability, growth; and finally, third, to ensure we have all the provisions on risk, controls, balanced mix and transparency. With this, we conclude the report of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and we thank you for your attention and continued support.

Thank you, Bruno. Item 2D concerns Ferrovial's 2025 annual report and the adoption by the shareholders' meeting of the annual accounts for the financial year 2025. The 2025 annual report has been made available at our registered office and website. Ms. Van der Vleuten, the partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, who has signed the audit report for the 2025 financial statements as well as the independent auditor's assurance report for nonfinancial information will now provide us with some insight into the audit and assurance activities they have performed. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Esther van der Vleuten, ladies and gentlemen, and I am the external auditor of Ferrovial SE on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers Accountants N.V. 2025 was the first year that we as PwC conducted this audit of Ferrovial, and it was conducted under my direct supervision in close cooperation with PwC Spain and PwC offices across the globe for the group's key geographies.

As an external auditor, my role is to explain our audit work and our conclusions and management and the Board remain responsible for the content of the annual report and the internal control environment. I will elaborate on the procedures performed to substantiate our audit report and conclusions reached. Based on our audit, we have issued an unqualified audit opinion on the consolidated and separate financial statements for the year ended 31st of December 2025, and that report was dated 25th of February of 2026.

And in our opinion, the financial statements provide a true and fair view in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union as well as with Dutch law, and they are appropriately prepared on a going concern basis. We have also assessed that the other information included in the annual report is consistent with the financial statements as well as is compliant with laws and regulations, including disclosures included in the corporate governance report and the remuneration report.

And we have no specific matters to report in this respect. We conclude that the description of the risk management and control systems in the annual report is in line with the results of our audit work and that the major risks that we consider relevant from an audit perspective have been appropriately disclosed in the integrated annual report. The detailed information on how we have conducted our audit and our audit approach is included in the auditor's report, which you can see and is included in the annual report.

And in summary, we applied a materiality level of EUR 136.8 million and that was derived as 0.5% of total assets. We conducted our audits at 40 components in 10 countries, resulting in an audit coverage of 87% of consolidated revenue, 91% of consolidated total assets and 94% of consolidated profit before tax.

Most of the work has been conducted at the large components in the United States, Canada, Spain and Poland. And as you have read, we have reported 2 key audit matters: the risk of misstatement in revenue from long-term construction contracts and the recoverability of fixed assets and infrastructure projects related to the U.S. highways and the related goodwill of U.S. Highway I-66.

And for details on our audit response thereto, we refer to the section key audit matters in my auditor's report. Additionally, we have issued a separate limited assurance report on the sustainability statement of the company included in the annual report and concluded that nothing has come to our attention that it is not prepared in all material respects in accordance with the European sustainability reporting standards or compliant with the reporting requirements provided for by the EU taxonomy.

I confirm that we are and have been independent of Ferrovial SE and are compliant with the applicable independence regulations. And I would like to thank the Board, the Audit and Control Committee and Management for the constructive cooperation during this first year's audit. And I would like to conclude my summary here and return the floor to the Chairman. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you very much, Esther. Before we move to the questions, the data on the registration for this meeting have been processed. You have the floor.

Thank you. The total number of issued and outstanding ordinary shares per the record date for this shareholders' meeting 12 March 2026 amounted to 718,517,287. The number of voting rights of the record date is the same as each share carries 1 vote.

At the start of the shareholders' meeting, 529,353,385 ordinary shares were present or represented. This amounts to 73.67% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares per the record date. All voting items on the agenda can be adopted by a simple majority of votes cast.

Thank you, Geerte. We now move to the questions. I note that no questions have been submitted ahead of the shareholders' meeting. And we will now take questions from those present here on all the items of the agenda. As previously mentioned, in the interest of conducting an orderly meeting, we ask you to raise questions on any of the items of the agenda now, not later in the meeting.

After this time, we will proceed to voting and will not accept any further questions. For your reference, we have posted a summary of all agenda items for this meeting on the screen. Once 2 or 3 questions have been asked, we will proceed to answer them and so on.

Are there any shareholders in the room who would like to ask any questions? Okay. I know that there are no questions regarding any of the agenda items. I now open the voting and ask that the voting operator switch on the voting system. As mentioned before, from now up to agenda item 12, the closing, you can vote on all items on the agenda.

You do not have to wait for a particular item to be introduced to vote. If you are voting during this meeting, you may change your vote at any time until the voting is closed. We will now take you through the remaining agenda items, starting with agenda item 3. All remaining agenda items are voting items. I give the floor to the Secretary.

This agenda item concerns the climate strategy report for the financial year 2025. The climate strategy report has been made available on Ferrovial's website. As described in the explanatory notes to the agenda, the climate strategy report is prepared in alignment with the recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures.

The report includes an update on Ferrovial's emissions reduction plan, the evolution of greenhouse emissions and the actions to achieve the established reduction targets. The climate strategy report has been verified by an independent body, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In line with previous years, the Board has resolved to present this report to the shareholders' meeting as a nonbinding advisory vote.

We now continue with Item 4, the discharge.

Item 4 is the proposal to grant discharge to: one, the Executive Directors of Ferrovial and Office in the financial year 2025 in respect of the performance of their duties and two, the nonexecutive directors of Ferrovial and Office in the financial year 2025 in respect of the performance of their duties.

As such performance is apparent from the 2025 annual report or other public disclosures prior to the adoption of the annual accounts for the financial year 2025.

We now move to agenda Item 5, Director appointment.

This agenda item contains the proposals to reappoint the directors, Mr. Madridejos, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Hoyos and Mr. Urquijo, as well as the proposal to appoint Ms. Bou-Balust.

The Board, following the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee has nominated each of these directors for reappointment or appointment for a 3-year term, lapsing at the end of Ferrovial's 2029 Shareholders' Meeting.

For the curriculum vitae of the nominated directors, I refer to the explanatory note of the shareholders' meeting, which also contains an explanation of the reasons for nominating these directors. Accordingly, I will keep such explanations brief during this meeting.

I note that Mr. Bowman, Mr. Hoyos, Mr. Urquijo and Ms. Bou-Balust qualify as independent in accordance with the Dutch Corporate Governance Code and the NASDAQ listing rules. I will now turn to the specific nominations for the reappointment of the directors.

The reappointment of Mr. Ignacio Madridejos. The Board believes that there are compelling reasons for the reappointment of Mr. Madridejos, primarily his deep knowledge and experience of Ferrovial in the sectors in which it operates, the key role he has played in the consolidation of the Ferrovial Group as one of the world's leading infrastructure groups and the long-term value creation over the years in which he has been CEO.

Reappointment of nonexecutive directors. I turn to the reappointment of Mr. Bowman, Mr. Hoyos, Mr. Urquijo as nonexecutive directors as set out in explanatory notes to agenda items 5B to 5D. For each of their reappointments, the Board has taken into account Ferrovial's Board profile and has evaluated positively.

Their proven experience and extensive professional career, the extensive knowledge of the Ferrovial Group and the sector and markets in which it operates. The assessment of their performance, their availability to carry out their duties as directors and their positive contribution to the Board and the committees of which they are members in their current capacities.

The Board is of the opinion that the reappointments as a whole contribute to an appropriate mix of senior members and members more recently appointed, enriching the debate and providing a plurality of views to allow for proper exercise of the Board's and committees' duties.

The appointment of Ms. Elisenda Bou-Balust. I finally discussed the appointment of Ms. Bou-Balust as Non-Executive Director. The Board nominates Ms. Elisenda Bou-Balust because of her deep knowledge and experience in technology and specifically in artificial intelligence on which she has a thorough level of understanding. In addition, her commercial and managerial experience derived from founding technology companies and her knowledge of the U.S. market, which is a strategic priority for Ferrovial are highlighted. The Board considers Ms. Bou-Balust would complement its overall composition positively, providing a forward-looking perspective and strengthening discussions on digital evolution and the future market developments.

Overall, the Board believes that the reappointments and appointment of the nominated directors are in the best interest of Ferrovial.

Before we move on, I would like to remind you that you may cast your vote for all agenda items until we reach Item 12, the closing. We now move to agenda Item 6, the long-term incentive plan for executive directors.

This agenda item regards the proposal to approve the key terms of a new long-term incentive plan applicable to executive directors for the period 2026, 2028, which are in line with previous plans and with the remuneration policy. These key terms include grant vesting period and scheme. The allocation of units will be made in annual grants in 2026, 2027 and 2028.

The shares shall be delivered if the conditions are met only upon completion of the fiscal year in which the third anniversary of the allocation of units is reached. Metrics. The delivery of shares is subject to compliance during the vesting period with performance metrics calculated on the basis of: one, activity cash flow with a weight in range between 35% and 45%.

Two, total shareholders' return with a weight in a range between 45% and 55% calculated through a comparison with a defined peer group and the S&P 500 Index or such other appropriate index; and three, ESG targets related to sustainability, belonging and inclusion and health and safety with a weight in range between 10% and 15%.

We now go on with agenda Item 7, the conversion from Ferrovial SE to Ferrovial N.V. and the related amendment of the Articles of Association.

This item refers to the change of the legal form of the parent company of the Ferrovial Group. The Board considers that converting the legal form to an N.V. has several benefits. First, it would bring Ferrovial more in line with market practice, where the vast majority of Dutch listed entities are N.Vs.

Second, Ferrovial believes it will furthermore benefit from a clearer legal framework. Finally, there are certain practical benefits for an N.V. compared to an SE, such as the ability to digitally file its submissions with the Dutch trade register. For these reasons, the group also completed the conversion of its Dutch subholdings that were SEs into Dutch private limited liability companies, BVs.

The conversion also requires a change of the Articles of Association, which is limited to reflecting a change in the legal name and the reference of the legal form. No other changes to Ferrovial's governance or the Articles of Association are proposed. Ferrovial will retain its legal personality, all assets, liabilities, rights, obligations and other legal relationships of Ferrovial SE will remain with Ferrovial N.V. and Ferrovial shares will remain issued and will continue to be listed and traded on the same stock exchanges.

In light of the above, Ferrovial considers the conversion a technical change to align with market practice and benefit from a clearer legal framework. The conversion proposal and an explanatory report on the legal and economic aspects and the implications for shareholders and employees have been made available on Ferrovial's website and Ferrovial's registered office.

We now move to the next agenda items, which relate to several authorizations to be granted to the Board.

With respect to this and the following items, I refer to the explanatory notes to the agenda for further details and conditions of the authorizations requested.

Agenda Item 8 consists of 2 voting items, 8A and 8B. Item 8A includes the proposal to authorize the Board to issue ordinary shares and to grant rights to subscribe to ordinary shares for general purposes up to a maximum of 10% of Ferrovial's issued share capital at the date of this shareholders' meeting.

Item 8B includes a proposal to authorize the Board to issue ordinary shares and to grant right to subscribe for ordinary shares for scrip dividend purposes up to a maximum of 5% of Ferrovial's issued share capital at the date of the shareholders' meeting.

Item 9.

Item 9 also consists of 2 voting items, 9A and 9B. Item 9A includes the proposal to authorize the Board to limit or exclude preemptive rights in connection with the issuance of and/or the granting of rights to subscribe for ordinary shares up to a maximum of 10% of Ferrovial's issued share capital at the date of the shareholders' meeting for general purposes.

Item 9B includes the proposal to authorize the Board to limit or exclude preemptive rights in connection with the issue of and/or the granting of rights to subscribe for ordinary shares up to a maximum of 5% of Ferrovial's issued share capital at the date of the shareholders' meeting for scrip dividend purposes.

Okay. Next item.

Agenda Item 10 concerns the proposal to authorize the Board to acquire ordinary shares in Ferrovial's share capital in accordance with the conditions set out in explanatory notes to this agenda item.

We now move to the final substantive agenda item #11.

This agenda item concerns the proposal to cancel ordinary shares held in treasury. The number of ordinary shares to be canceled will be determined by the Board. The cancellation will be implemented in one or more tranches in accordance with the conditions and procedures set out in the explanatory notes to this agenda item.

That brings us to the end of the substantive part of this shareholders' meeting. I remind you that the opportunity to vote will close in a few seconds. I invite you to finalize your vote.

[Voting]

Okay. Voting is now closed and has been process. So we have the results on the screen.

Okay. All voting items submitted to the shareholders' meeting have been adopted. And Ferrovial will publish the voting results on its website after conclusion of this shareholders' meeting.

Dear shareholders and attendees, we have now reached the end of this 2026 meeting, and I hereby close the meeting. And on behalf of the Board, thank you for your attendance and participation. We hope to see you again next year.

Good afternoon, everybody. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the financial results for the full year of 2025.

I'm joined here today by our Chairman, Rafael del Pino, our CEO, Innate Maridejos; and our CFO, Ernesto. Just as a reminder, both the results report and the presentation are available on our website since yesterday evening after the U.S. market was closed. At the end of the presentation, there will be a Q&A session run by our CEO and our CFO. .

As in previous calls, you will have the opportunity to ask questions live. [Operator Instructions]

Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties -- so actual figures may differ Other than as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report. With all this, I will hand over to Rafael. Rafael, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia, and good afternoon, everyone. Ferrovial delivered a robust performance at all business divisions in 2025. In Highways, our North American assets continue to deliver outstanding revenue and EBITDA growth. In airports, we continue to make progress at new Terminal 1 at New York's JFK Airport, where our focus is now on operational readiness.

And in construction, our line so business achieved an understanding performance. On the financial side, we closed the year with a solid cash position. With negative net debt, excluding infra projects of $1.3 billion. This was supported by record dividends received from our infra assets that reached EUR 968 million.

In addition, we collected proceeds of EUR 533 million from the sale of AGS and EUR 539 million from the divestment of a 5% stake in Heathrow Airport. These cash flows were combined with investments for growth that included the acquisition of an additional 5% stake in Ferrovial for EUR 1.3 billion. as well as EUR 236 million of equity injections in MTO.

At the same time, we returned to shareholders $156 million in cash and repurchased shares totaling EUR 501 million. We also achieved significant milestones in 2025. We were shortlisted for the bidding of the I2-85 East Express Lanes in Georgia and the i24 Southeast Choice line in Tennessee, both of which are expected to be awarded this year.

And in February 2026, Ferrovial's consortium was shortlisted for the I-77 Salt Express Lanes project. Following our U.S. listing in 2024, Ferrovial joined the NASDAQ 100 index in December, a key milestone that reflects our growing presence in the North American market and the confidence investors place in our long-term strategy. .

In the following slide, we review some of the key figures for the year. Revenue reached EUR 9.6 billion, up 8.6% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis. driven mainly by higher revenues in highways and construction. Adjusted EBITDA stood at EUR 1.5 billion, representing a 12.2% year-over-year increase on a like-for-like basis, supported by the growing contribution from our portfolio of managed claims in the U.S. and a very solid year in our construction business.

The construction order book reached a new all-time high of EUR 17.4 billion with almost 50% coming from North America. Dividends from projects reached a record EUR 968 million, showing a 2.2% increase year-over-year, led by contributions from Managed Lanes and Peru ETR. As mentioned before, a solid cash position with negative net debt ex infra projects reached EUR 1.3 billion.

And finally, total shareholder return in 2025 reached an outstanding 38.6%. I will now hand it over to Ignacio, who will review Ferrovial's performance in 2025 by business position. Ignacio the floor is yours. .

Thank you, Rafael, and hello, everyone. Let me begin with an update on our strategy. Our key North American infrastructure assets, the 407 ETR and the U.S. Managed Lanes continue to perform strongly. The 407ETR delivered double-digit EBITDA growth while the managed lanes reported revenue growth significantly above inflation.

In MTO, we advanced in the construction of the new terminal 1 at JFK and invested EUR 236 million in equity over the year. In terms of growth opportunities in North American highway assets, we increased our stake in 407 ETR to 48.29% showing our confidence in the long-term prospects of the Greater Toronto area and the long-term value creation of the asset.

During 2025, we also made significant progress in our U.S. pipeline. We were shortlisted for I-25 East in Georgia and I-24 in Tennessee, both of which are expected to be awarded this year. Additionally in February 2026, Ferrovial's consortium was listed for the I-77 South Express Lanes project in North Carolina with a war estimated for 2027.

All 3 are Managed Lanes projects in fast-growing metro regions. We are facing a record pipeline of infrastructure projects in the U.S., larger than anything we have seen before. As cities continue to expand and congestion intensifies, managed express lanes and toll based systems have proven to be reliable and highly efficient solutions.

Beyond highways, we continue to monitor opportunities across other infrastructure segments including airports like MTO, with capacity expansion needs, greenfield and data centers and energy infrastructure projects. Recent examples include the development of solar portable tech projects in Texas and the acquisition of land plots for data center development in Spain and Poland.

We remain selective when pursuing only those opportunities where our capabilities provide a clear competitive advantage and the risk return profile aligns with our strategic priorities. Our capital rotation strategy, focus on mature assets continues to provide flexibility to invest in the most attractive opportunities.

Our divestments in Hydro and AGS in 2025 are good examples of this. This growth strategy will be funded by solid cash flow expected from our current portfolio in the following years, while we continue to maintain our financial discipline with a focus on delivering value creation for our shareholders.

Turning to highways. 2025 was another outstanding year for the business division especially in North America. Highways revenue grew 13.7% like-for-like in the year, while adjusted EBITDA was up 12.2%, driven by a strong double-digit growth from our U.S. assets.

In the fourth quarter, the adjusted EBITDA declined by 2.9% compared to previous year, impacted by foreign exchange and higher bidding costs. U.S. highways revenue grew 14.2% in like-for-like terms in 2025 compared to previous year, and adjusted EBITDA increased by 12.4% versus 2024. Dividends from our North American highways totaled EUR 855 million in 2025, reflecting the strong growth and cash generation of these concessions.

The figure is slightly below the EUR 860 million in 2024, but remember that 2024 includes the first dividend from I-77 after 5 years of operation which was an extraordinary amount of EUR 205 million. Turning to the 407ETR. The asset delivered an outstanding performance in 2025.

Traffic increased by 6.1% in 2025. This growth reflects the success of targeted as our driving offers as well as the increase in mobility from return to office mandates partially offset by unfavorable winter weather in 2025.

Revenue grew 7.8% year-over-year, with total revenue increasing 17.6% primarily due to the higher toll rates that came into effect on January 1, 2025. Looking at fourth quarter figures, revenue per trip grew by 7.1% compared to 11.7% for the full year, this last quarter's performance was mainly due to seasonality and a softer contribution from heavy vehicles, which pay higher toll rates. In terms of EBITDA, it grew 14.2%, impacted by the Schedule 22 expense provision that was CHF 14.9 million in 2025, along with an extraordinary higher provision for lifetime expected credit losses.

Looking at promotions, they work very well in incentivizing more efficient use of the road throughout 2025. The targeted offers continue to provide us valuable insights into customer behavior. We expect our focus on demand segmentation to continue enhancing value for users and maximizing EBITDA growth.

Regarding dividends in 2025, the 407ETR distributed a total of CAD 1.5 billion. Lastly, on January 1 of this year, the new to rate and fee scheme was implemented. Moving now to our Dallas forwards Managed Lanes. In terms of traffic, the corridor remains strong. while traffic in our managed claims was impacted by construction works.

In terms of operating results, the 3 projects posted solid growth versus last year, both in terms of revenue and EBITDA despite the increase in revenue share. Remember that revenue sharing is a consequence of the overperformance of the assets. At NTE, traffic declined 4.7% compared to 2024 due to the ongoing impact from capacity improvement construction works. These works are expected to be completed by year-end except for two additional ramps that began construction last year.

Despite lower traffic, revenue increased by 8.1% in 2025 and adjusted EBITDA grew by 5.5% year-over-year, including $8.1 million of revenue share in 2025. At LBJ, traffic was flat in 2025 despite the impact of construction works affecting Near by connecting highways.

In the fourth quarter, traffic performance was affected by changes in the staging of adjacent projects. Revenue grew 8.6% in the year, while adjusted EBITDA grew 9.2% versus 2024. At NT 35 West traffic increased by 2.9% in 2025 and reflecting solid demand across the corridor.

When looking into the fourth quarter performance, the traffic was down by 0.4%, impacted by bottlenecks at Managed Lane access exit points and the finalization of capacity restriction linked to construction works on competing nearby road 1:1.

We are working to identify solutions that relieve congestion and address these bottlenecks that I mentioned. Also any implementation will take a few years. On the financial side, revenue grew a robust 14.7% year-on-year, and adjusted EBITDA rose 10.6% for the year and included $26.4 million of revenue share. In all, our Dallas Fortworth Managed Lanes revenue per transaction increased well above the soft cap inflation, supported by a favorable traffic mix.

NTE and 35-West also benefited from a higher number of mandatory mode events. This cap was updated for 2026, increasing by 2.7%. Revenue per transaction grew year-on-year by 13.4% in NTE, 8.7% in and 11.6% in 35-West.

Following this robust operating performance, all 3 Dallas Forward Managed Lanes delivered higher year-on-year dividend distributions reached $216 million, LBA $123 million and 35-West $215 million. Moving now to I-66. Traffic increased by 7.4% in the year, supported by a strong corridor growth that benefited from greater enforcement of return to the office policies despite worse weather conditions and the federal government shutdown in the last months of the year.

Revenue per transaction grew by a healthy 13.3% in 2025. Looking at last quarter's performance, let me highlight that the 1.3% increase in revenue per transaction reflects a singular quarter performance, influenced by an unusual traffic mix and lower Picor volumes mainly due to adverse weather conditions and the temporary shutdown.

We remain confident on the asset and expect future toll rates to grow above inflation based on the value for users linked to how congestion evolves in the area. Adjusted EBITDA rose an exceptional growth of 25.7% in 2025 and driven by traffic growth and higher toll rates.

In 2025, 566 distributed $165 million in dividends at the 100% level compared to $172 million in 2024 when the asset paid its first dividend distribution after 2 years of operation.

Turning to the I-77, or managed lanes in North Carolina, traffic declined in both fourth quarter and full year as the fourth quarter of 2024 traffic benefited from an exceptional uplift caused by hurricane-related alternative lane closures, together with adverse weather conditions throughout 2025.

I-77 delivered a very strong revenue per transaction growth, up 24.7% year-on-year. The adjusted EBITDA grew by 16.5% in 2025 including $21 million of revenue share in 2025. I-77 distributed $52 million in dividends at the 100% level compared to $307 million in 2024, which was the first dividend distribution of the asset after 5 years of operation. Our North American toll road assets are located in some of the top performing regions in North America, consistently growing above the national average.

Starting with Orono, short-term economic growth may be modest, given the geopolitical environment, but the long-term prospects remain solid. The greater Toronto area, population is expected to expand 22% by 2051, and Toronto is forecast to deliver higher 5G GDP growth than both Ontario and Canada.

Moving now to the last 4 quarters. The region continues to show very strong economic and demographic momentum. By 2050, a Dallas FortWorth is projected to surpass and become the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with more than 12 million of population. The region benefits from a very diversified economy, and it remains 1 of the most attractive destinations for both corporate and families relocating within the U.S.

Over the next 5 years, its GDP growth is projected to exceed the U.S. average. In Northern Virginia, the area stands out for having high household incomes. The Washington Metro area has a higher proportion of households earnings above $100,000 than the U.S. average. Over the next 5 years, the medium household income is forecast to rise by 3.2% in Washington Metro area.

Lastly, Charlotte remains 1 of the fastest-growing metro areas in the Southeastern United States. In 2025, we recorded the highest growth rate among the top 50 metros. At 2.3% versus a national average of 0.9%.

Looking ahead, the region's population is projected to increase by more than 50% by 2050 led by Maclinburg County, where the I-77 corridor is located. Turning to our business in India. In 2025, IRB reported decrease in revenues showing lower construction activity following the completion of several projects as well as the one-off positive impact from a claim recorded in 2024.

IRB Private InvIT continued to deliver solid performance with a year-on-year growth in revenues and EBITDA. At the same time, the private InvIT advanced in its capital recycling strategy through the sale of 3 assets to the public InvIT enhancing portfolio optimization. During the year, IRB Private IBIT was awarded 2 new TOT concessions, reinforcing the company's leadership in India's toll road monetization program.

Looking ahead, India remains an attractive market, supported by a strong GDP and a significant funding gap in transport infrastructure. In 2025, India GDP grew by 7.7% year-on-year despite ongoing macroeconomic headwinds. Moving on to airports and new Terminal 1 project at JFK Airport. We continue making steady progress towards operational readiness. The project keeps progressing facing a crucial year. In terms of schedule, the contractor has communicated an updated target completion date for the first phase of construction of all 2026.

The project reached 82% construction progress as of the end of the year. We have secured commitments from 25 airlines, including 16 executed agreements and 9 letters of intent. As a reminder, from previous quarters, we achieved an important milestone in July, completing the refinancing of Phase A through the issuance of a $1.4 billion long-term bond.

Turning to our airport in Turkey, Dalaman delivered a steady performance despite macroeconomic headwinds and geopolitical challenges that significantly affected international traffic. In 2025, passenger numbers declined by 1.1%, yet revenue grew 3.6%, driven by better nonarea performance.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 2.5%, supported by a strong commercial performance. Ferrovial received EUR 7 million in dividends from Dalaman in 2025.

Let's now turn to construction. The division posted an standing year, delivering a strong growth and solid profitability across all business units. Revenue reached EUR 7.7 billion, up 7.5% in like-for-like terms compared to 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA was EUR 511 million, up 19.9% and adjusted EBIT totaled EUR 352 million, increasing by 24.2% like-for-like. The division delivered a 4.6% adjusted EBIT margin in 2025 above our long-term strategic target.

The business performed well across all divisions. Budimex delivered a standard 9.2% adjusted EBIT margin with improvements across all segments and benefiting in fourth quarter from one-off change orders and higher contribution from later-stage contracts with risk already fully mitigated, weather reached a 3.2% adjusted EBIT margin. Probal construction improved to 2.4%, supported by risk reduction on late-stage projects and improved execution. -- also profitability in 2025 continue to be impacted by significant design activity in bidding for projects and costs related to digitalization and IT systems.

We finished 2025 with a record high order book of EUR 17.4 billion, up 10.1% like-for-like from December 2024. The composition of the order book remains very healthy. It does not reflect roughly EUR 2.5 billion in contracts that are pre-awards or pending financial close. Almost half of our order book is in our core U.S. and Canada market, which we expect will continue to support future growth.

Our operating cash flow reached EUR 597 million in 2025, compared to EUR 291 million in the previous year, driven by fourth quarter working capital seasonality in Poland and Spain together with prepayments and compensation received in the U.S. and Canada. Lastly, in terms of outlook for the division, we maintain our average long-term target of 3.5% adjusted EBIT margin. Now Ernesto will continue with main financial information.

Thanks, Ignacio. I'll cover now the main lines of the P&L statement. As you have seen in the previous slides, adjusted EBITDA has grown on the back of U.S. highways and construction operational performance. The EBITDA figure also includes other businesses like waste treatment in the U.K. .

In the fourth quarter, an agreement was reached to exit the Alowi waste treatment contract by the end of March 2026. This agreement had no additional impact on the P&L from what had already been recognized in the first 9 months. As we have mentioned in past calls, we aim to fully exit the business in due course.

Depreciation on the back of higher traffic than expected on I-66 and replacement CapEx being brought forward in the Dallas FortWorth Express Lanes. The disposals and impairments in 2025 related mainly to the sale of ADS. During 2024, we had the impact of the sale of 19.25% of Heathrow.

Financial results infra projects, a slight increase of expense versus previous year due to increased debt in highways along 2024 and lower cash remunerations on lower average cash balances, partially mitigated by U.S. dollar depreciation.

Financial results ex infra projects, the income is driven by net cash balance. The Heathrow airports holding 5%, 25% stick in fee and employee share plan hedges. Last year, we had the fair value positive impact of the 5.25% stake in Heathrow holding that was sold in 2025. Equity accounted affiliates profit growth on the back of the ETR outstanding performance.

Income tax has a positive impact due to recognition of tax credits in the U.S. and Spain mainly. Results from discontinued operations reflect earnouts from divested services business. Turning to the net cash -- net debt position, the ex infrastructure net debt -- we see that dividends from projects amounted to EUR 968 million.

On top of the highways dividends already discussed, Energy distributed EUR 54 million, corresponding to the return of capital invested in our FortWorth in Texas, and the Airport division distributed EUR 30 million, of which Heathrow represented 50% Construction operating cash flow as tax payments ex dividend, reached EUR 596 million, driven by the fourth quarter working capital in Poland and Spain, and further enhanced by prepayments and compensations received in the U.S. and Canada as Ignacio just discussed.

Tax payments reached EUR 100 million, including EUR 47 million of corporate income tax in Budimex. Investments totaled EUR 1,170 million, mainly due to the additional 5.06% stake acquired in the 407 ETR for a price of roughly EUR 1.3 billion. And also the EUR 236 million of equity invested in NT. Interest received and other invested in activities cash flow amounted to EUR 130 million, mainly related to cash remuneration.

Day basements reached EUR 1,158 million, largely driven by the divestment of Heathrow, EUR 539 million and the divestment of AGS, EUR 533 million. Cash dividend and treasury share buybacks, purchases at EUR 657 million in 2025 includes EUR 156 million from cash dividends and EUR 501 million of share buybacks.

Other cash flows from financing activities used in financial activities, you have EUR 437 million including the repayment of the revolving credit facility that was EUR 250 million, also the reduction of the euro commercial paper to EUR 100 million; and financial leases reduction, EUR 121 million.

Also, we include here the dividend to minorities, that is EUR 77 million and interest payment, EUR 64 million. All this is partially offset by the issuance of nondilutive convertible bond that is registered here at EUR 350 million. We also have the effect of the exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents, a reduction EUR 91 million, mainly from the U.S. but we don't include here this net cash position, the mark-to-market FX hedges as of December 2025, we had notional foreign exchange hedges of EUR 2.47 billion in $38 million. the corresponding mark-to-market of these hedges was EUR 147 million, as I mentioned, not included in the net cash position.

Moving to the slide of dividend proposal. This year, we shall propose EUR 1 billion in dividends. We can consider this is a EUR 400 million top-up of what would be a comparable dividend to past years of EUR 600 million. With this, the aggregate dividends for the period 2024 through 2026 would total EUR 2.2 billion following market standards where dividends are based on the share price at the time of delivery to shareholders. As obviously, we're looking to break it down probably into dividends along the year. And now let me hand it over to Ignacio for the closing remarks.

To conclude, our North American portfolio continues to deliver solid revenue and profitability growth, driven by enhanced customer segmentation and underlying growth in the locations where our assets operate. Looking ahead, we are well positioned for continued growth, supported by a record pipeline of U.S. infrastructure projects and rising interest in P3 opportunities across the country. Finally, our construction order book remains healthy with anticipated limited exposure to inflation. .

Thank you very much all of you. And let's start with a Q&A session. So operator, please go ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]. Our first question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

The first 1 on the ETR, the Q4 revenue per transaction up 6%, you mentioned you to some weakness in heavy vehicles. Can you elaborate on this? And is this spilling over into 2026, this headwind?

The second 1 -- you had the new pricing in place for the ETR407 from January. Could you talk a bit about what you're seeing, the feedback from customers? Are you seeing demand erosion as a consequence of that? Or are you expecting other negative mix impact here? I'm trying to understand if this 21% growth in price at peak times is representative for the revenue per trip growth in 2026?

And the last one, if I may, 35-West you -- during your remarks, you mentioned about the volume weakness in Q4, also due to some bottlenecks, and it sounds that that you expect this to spill over into 2026. Could you elaborate a bit if my understanding is right? And if you can give more details there. .

Thank you for the questions. I will start with the 407ETR, the revenue per transaction in the fourth quarter of the year. That was lower than the previous quarter. You have to consider that is something that happens usually in the fourth quarter compared to the third that is some seasonality. And in this case, probably more even because of weather that affected. And usually, what happens is that during the summer, you will have longer trips. -- in the corridor and also more type of users that now have transponders and they have a charge because in the video, it's now that we have.

So it has been repeated this quarter has commented because of weather probably more where some effect that not relevant about the heavies, but it's too early to say if it's something that will continue of course, always is very related to the economic activity of the country and especially about the region of Canada and is continued expected to grow in this year according to third parties, but we have to see how it is evolving.

And also what we need to consider always in these things is the effect on -- of promotions. And as you know, we are very positive about the promotions that we did last year. And I think that is helping now with with users with the value that we give to the users, but also it's helping to maximize EBITDA.

And this is the main KPI that we are following. Promotions are increasing traffic, but are also reducing revenue per transaction, but it helps us to maximize EBITDA. And this is something that we have to follow this number. For this year 2026, we don't give any guidance.

But as commented previously, we'll continue with promotions as we did in 2025. And we expect also that is going to contribute to maximize EBITDA also in this year 2026. Regarding the 35-West, the volumes in the last quarter, yes, I commented about some bottlenecks that we have. That is affecting the whole corridor. The whole corridor is growing. And what we are seeing is more congestion. And this is something that will continue happening. As you know, more questions could mean that some traffic is moving out of the corridor, but this also will mean that probably we have more mandatory models in the way that we have had until now.

Of course, as I commented, we are looking for solutions -- but I think we have some designs and changes that could improve the situation, but we need several approvals, and it will take time. But as commented in the short term, we may see softer traffic compared to the whole traffic growth in the region, but probably because of more -- of congestion, more mandatory most.

Our next question comes from Luis Prieto from Kepler Chevreux.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks a lot for taking the time to answer our questions. I have 3 questions, if I may. The first 1 is, could you please shed a bit of light on the reasons behind the provision for lifetime expected credit loss of the 47 ETR? Should we expect this to happen again? The second 1 is that although you have reiterated your long-term EBIT margin outlook in construction in 1 of your slides, wouldn't Q4 margins suggest that there is upside risk to this figure over -- at least over the coming year? .

And the third question is if you could provide us, please, some anecdotal evidence on customer segmentation measures in the U.S. management, not before, which I think is widely understood. But what are you doing specifically in the years.

Thank you, Luis, about this provision for credit loss. Some years ago, we have a change in the processes that we have. And because of that, we have some all accounts that we thought that it was healthy to provision at the end of last quarter. And the new collections after this change of process that we are seeing right now are back to what they were before this change of process, so it's back to normal to what it was before.

In terms of EBIT, the only guidance that we gave is that the long-term average EBIT is 3.5% for construction. So sometimes we'll be above or other times will be below. As you know, this is a cyclical business. And this is the only guidance that we are giving. So we mentioned several times that we have a healthy backlog today. But the only guidance that we are giving is about this 3.5% EBIT margin in the long term.

And also regarding the fourth quarter, there were some one-offs that were exceptional and related to some change orders that we have in certain countries. And the last 1 about the customer segmentation in the U.S. is, of course, something that we are looking at, and we are analyzing. However, it's too early and more difficult than in the -- and it is because we are not doing the collections in the case of the U.S. managed lanes, and it's more difficult to reach customers. But of course, it's something that we are analyzing and seeing that we can create value also maximizing EBITDA with promotions in the future, but it will take longer.

Our next question comes from Graham Hunt from Jefferies.

Yes, thanks very much for the questions. I'll ask two, if that's okay. Firstly, we read a lot at the moment about the impact of AI and both in terms of pressure on white collar industries, but also technologies, which I think are relevant to your portfolio like increased presence of autonomous vehicles. So just wondered your thoughts on how you're thinking about these potential curettes or developments with respect to Ferrovial's discretionary lanes?

And is it coming into your thinking as you prepare for bids on the upcoming projects, which you highlight in the pipeline? And the second question, just so dividends upstream dividends. Just where do we stand or where is your thinking in terms of and whether you can increase that to increase upstream dividends across the U.S. and Canada there.

Thank you. I will take the first 1 and Ernesto the second. I mean, we could not hear you very well on the second question, but I will try to answer. Regarding AI and autonomous vehicles, we have some preferred done by third parties about what will be the implications of especially autonomous vehicle because AI is a little bit more difficult and probably new -- but in the case of autonomous vehicles, main conclusion is that at least in the short term, what we see is more traffic.

So it will be probably autonomous cars moving more than the cars today, and so will be more traffic and congestion and especially that we get more congestion when they are running at the same time with cars driving by human beings.

So I think that the short term, we see that as a positive thing. The implication of AI is a little bit more difficult -- and I think there are different versions, now if they will maintain the employment by the people doing different things or there will be a reduction of in general, white collars.

Of course, some cities will be stronger depending on the type of workers that they have and the type of industries and the type of things that they do. And as long as we can have some information about this and we can incorporate in the models we'll do. But so far, there are more sales about autonomous vehicle and less about artificial intelligence. But as long as we get more information, of course, we'll incorporate in our models and of course, in the bidding process.

Yes. Thanks, Graham. If I listen well, the question was regarding the possibility of helping uplift dividends from our projects like the 407 and Managed Lanes with some additional leverage. Yes, this is a question you get recurrently asked.

I mean clearly, the 407 is very with very comfortable ratio. So we could be seeing some uplift there. I don't expect like a big bank, but yes, I mean, there could be an improvement in dividends just because there's the sample capacity there. Regarding the managed lanes, you know that always the optimal in terms of delevering is comparing with the business plan that was submitted. So where we could have -- not in the near term, but not too far away, some additional leverage on the I-66, -- those are the main ones for 07, -- we could have some angle in others, but we will update in due across the market. So yes, the summary is that, yes, we have some headroom there.

Our next question comes from Ruairi Cullinane from RBC Capital Markets. .

Please, could you provide some commentary on pricing on the I-66 77 at the start of the year? Would it be reasonable to assume another year of double-digit pricing increases in terms of revenue transaction growth on these assets? Secondly, you have a strong Q4 across all construction businesses.

And I was wondering what drove the more than doubling of EBITDA in Ferrovial Construction. And then finally, on the Schedule 22 provision. It seems like there are a few sort of moving parts that could drive that this year, on the 1 hand, higher tolls, but also perhaps more rush out traffic and further targeted promotions. Would you be willing to say overall, we could expect a decrease in scheduled 22 payments.

As you know, we are not giving any guidance about this year 2026 now in terms of pricing. The only comment that I made during the presentation is that in the I-66, we expect that toll rates will increase above inflation.

And the only thing to comment is that, as you know, this is to rates are increasing based on the value to users, and it is better related to to congestion and increase of population and economic activity. And as long that is happening and there is value for users, we'll try to capture and especially I and 77 that we have reason to set toll rates -- but as commented, we are not giving any guidance.

In the case of the concession business, the margin for the year was 4.6%. EBIT margin -- and I commented that especially in the fourth quarter, we have some positive developments in some markets with change orders or also some projects are at the later stages that the risks are eliminated. So there were some favor positive things that happened at the end of the fourth quarter. But we are not giving any guidance of following year. So what is going to happen next. And in terms of Schedule 22, again, as as commented previously, what we are trying to do with the promotions is to maximize EBITDA and part of the question, of course, is the traffic is revenue per transaction, but also it's the schedule 22.

And we consider the 3 things, whenever we define what is the toll rate increase for the next year and the promotions that we are launching during the year. And as you know, we have different sectors and in some sectors, what makes sense to increase promotions in others.

And depending on that, we can pay scheduled in '22, depending on the traffic or not. So the objective is not that, that to be a number that is 0, but to maximize EBITDA. And we consider all things together to take the best decisions in order to maximize EBITDA. Now that is the main KPI that we need to follow in the 407 ETR.

Our next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

Just -- to come back to the 407, I was wondering if there has been any pushback politically or in the price to the tariff increase that you have announced for '26 in -- and also, I know we've talked a bit on that. But in terms of promotions for 2026, should we expect a similar impact to 25%? Or will you increase the intensity there? .

And then with regard to the NTO, so you said the opening now is pushed to the fall. Realistically, when should we start to expect any impact to numbers -- and when will we get a bit more visibility on the financials there? And when would you communicate? And lastly, maybe it would be an opportunity to meet at this stage, but your '24, '26 period guidance or strategic update is ending obviously, this year. So are you planning anything to update the market on strategy, shareholder returns maybe the opening of the NTO.

About the 407 about the new tolerate announcement. I think that we have to see this about the Toronto in combination with the promotions because I think that many users in the Toronto area are benefiting from some of the promotions that we are doing, and we have to see it all in combination.

And I'm not aware about any I mean relevant pushback to the toll rate increase and to the promotions that we are doing. What we are doing or plan to do during this year. The focus will continue to be similar to previous year on peak hour as it was the case last year.

But also, we'll try to segment more and more looking for better understanding of the customer behavior and how we can contribute to value to them and not so to us to maximize. But about that, we need to learn. So it will be a step-by-step and we'll try to do some promotions and some activity to learn, but most of it, the bulk will be similar to previous year regarding peak hour.

But as commented, we'll do other things to see how we can increase value to users and maximize EBITDA. MTO, as commented, yes, it was is now the contractor to us that they expect date in the fall 2026. And yes, we have a review the schedule with the different milestones, and we have to wait on a specific date to opening. We are not going to give any any financial information at least for the time being until they start opening and with the first numbers of MTO. And at that time, I mean, we'll start to communicate a number.

Now for the time being only communicated opening date and the number of airlines that have signed or are user agreement or a letter of intent, not anything else for the time being. And yes, we are ending the Horizon 26 plan, that is the last year, but it's an important year. It's a '24, '26 plan.

Many things that we need to deliver during this year and that's the focus that we have today. Of course, after that, well, I mean, think of prepare a new plan that will work during this year. And once it is prepared, we'll think about how we are going to communicate what things or the plan will be communicated externally. But so far, I mean, we have not finalize the plan and not taking any decision about the communication.

Our following question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas.

Congratulations for MS in 2025. I have 3 questions on the U.S. Managed Lanes past performance. So on the I-66, Q4 was quite weak compared to Q3, but it was the government what kind of, let's say, revenue or traffic that you see in December after the government shutdown has ended? Do you feel like a normalization of the trends or some weakness remain -- then on the LBJ, I was a bit surprised by the slowdown there, and you mentioned construction works. Do you expect this construction works on, I guess, feeding traffic rods to continue in 2026?

Last question on the I-77. you that surprised me on the positive side against tough comps. Here, the revenue per transaction was very high, Q3 despite much lower traffic volumes. Can you tell us more about why that is the case and whether this dynamic is sustainable in 2026?

Thank you, Dario, regarding the I-66, yes, the fourth quarter was affected by the shutdown, 43 days and also by winter weather that was a previous quarters. It affected mainly that mixed traffic and especially commuters at big time. So that was the main effect was related to that, that we have less commuter had peak that they usually have higher toll rates than other times of the day. .

Also, you have to take into consideration that the comparison of the fourth quarter is that also we have a relevant increase in the fourth quarter last year with the dynamic prices that was communicated before by Ernesto in the quarter's calls. And so it was a tougher comparison also to consider. Again, as I commented before, we expect to grow the toll rates in the ICT about inflation because of the value to users and the activity that we see in the corridor.

The problem is that we have construction that around the LBA in different projects. That is not under our control. So in some cases, you see more impact depending where they are working, how they are affecting the number of lanes and the rest of the traffic. So -- it's very difficult to anticipate if in 1 quarter is improving another probably a little bit deteriorating versus the previous one. What we see is that it's not our construction work, that it will be finalized by the end of this year. We don't know exactly when it will happen in phases. So it may happen that suddenly 1 quarter is better.

And then the next, we see some negative affecting our traffic because they are doing something specific. So is it very difficult to anticipate. Also by the end of the year, we expect that it will be back to normal -- and it may happen that some quarters are better, because the way they are doing the work is helping with the traffic. Anyhow, the whole mean traffic back to the corridor will happen once the full construction is finished.

And in the case of the I-77, remember also with the traffic, we have this comparison with last year. If you remember, we have the closure of lanes because of the hurricane and that increased the traffic in the last quarter of the year. And even we have some effect at the beginning of 2025 that we'll see as a comparison. But in terms of toll rates, revenue per transaction, well, we continue understanding or see the value to users and then try to get that value to us. And I think there has been good in some big hours and the traffic. And because of that, we have been able to increase the revenue per transaction. and at the end, maximizing EBITDA. As I commented, Charlotte is a region that is growing and especially in terms of new jobs in the U.S., and it looks like it has a good perspective in the following years.

Our next question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

I have a couple of questions. Firstly, just a follow-up on the NTO project, which is delayed to fall 2026. Is there any increase in the cost of the project for you? Is there any extra equity that you need to contribute? And is there any impact on your equity IRR due to the due to the delay of that project.

Question number two, if we could just perhaps go back to the 407ETR dividend increase, which was very significant, 36%, I believe, in 2025. Could you just remind us how do you think about the dividend policy of that asset? And do you still consider the 407 ETR to be under-levered as it is today? And maybe if I can squeeze in 1 more. Regarding your U.S. listing, I mean that is a recurrent question, but are you considering any further steps on this journey to become more of a U.S. company, perhaps a switch to U.S. GAAP accounting or any other steps that you are considering.

Thank you, Marcin. I will take the first one, and Honest will take the last 2 questions that you are asking. Regarding the costs, the project is substantially close to the budget numbers at this point in time. Our expectations is the patio will not be material. And it will depend on how successful are certain claims presented by the contractor. And as of today, we don't expect any additional equity funding for Phase A. The delay that we are seeing today is minor, no, it's a very -- it's a few months. So it's is not affecting us IRR, it's a minimum thing that will not have any effect of the total project. But the negative effect that we have in this period of time is related to the revenues, not that we are not collecting, but no more than that, but the impact is minimal.

Okay. Regarding the capital structure of the 407, I mean, really, the leverage should reflect the solid financial performance, right? And with the performance it has, it keeps getting headroom and headroom in ratings, and I mean it doesn't make sense, right? The capital structure should be adequate to the current ratings, right? -- not get, let's say, an upgrade, right?

So yes, that would follow that opportunity, as I mentioned in another question that was regarding the dividend for the EUR 407 million. Regarding the U.S. listing, if we are looking to do U.S. GAAP or not, the market is not asking for that. Now of course, we've analyzed that. it could make us going forward, and we have done our analysis to try and get ready. But I mean, there's no current demand for that at the moment. So not in the short term, no, we won't be doing U.S. GAAP.

Our following question comes from Jose Manuel Arroyas from Santander.

I have just 1 question is about the revenue sharing payments in the Q4, particularly at NTE and I-77. I found them a little bit above average. And I think they ended above the annual budget for both highways. Was there anything different in the Q4? Or was it just a recalculation for some particular reason of the annual provision -- and then looking at 2026, I noticed that for I-77, you are budgeting about 50% increase in the in the revenue sharing provision for I-77, -- why would that be? Or is it just a conservative assessment .

Mast -- I mean, as you mentioned, -- it was on line with the budget, the revenue share. But the fact was that the budget has been outperformed, right? And there was a catch-up in the accrual at the end. Going forward, it makes sense to do that more along the year, right, rather than reflecting the budget. So we should expect more correlation with the performance. Along the year as we do with the scheduled 22s.

But it just reflected that. Regarding the I-77 renew share budget for next year, yes, the budget considers that there is, let's say, a move into another bracket of revenue sharing -- when that happens, it's an effect that it looks like a lot that then is not as that going forward, right? But when you get into a different bracket of sharing, to kind of get this effect because it looks into the accumulated stuff, right?

So you can check that with the XLs. We provide that effect. But as I said, the year -- the following year won't be that that's substantial. It's just an effect of changing into a different bracket.

And the last question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

Could I please check the 407 loyalty plan that you talked about. Could you give us a bit more details does it mean more -- is the purpose to get more traffic, but you could give more discounts? Or how do you think about it? And can I also ask on the NPE that you mentioned the construction works will end at the end of '26. How should we think once that happens, how should we think a traffic accelerating versus less mandatory modes. So net-net, you expect revenues still grow once construction ends? And the last one, there's a bunch of tenders for Express Lanes in the U.S.

You made the proposal for the Washington Airport, there's a lot of CapEx there on the midterm and long term. And even if you take a 35%, 40% equity of that CapEx, we're talking about a very large amount. So conceptually, can you tell us to me, how do you think about firepower? There are all these projects, but I guess there is a limit at some point, you cannot do all of them. Could you elaborate a little bit how you think about it. Thank you.

Christian. About the this loyalty plan. As commented, we'll continue with promotions in 2026. It was very positive from our perspective in 2025, helping us to maximize EBITDA and we'll continue to do that this year. Again, the bulk of most of the promotions will be at peak hours, similar to what we did in 2025.

Of course, with the learnings now that we had a large year, we continue improving and trying to get more value to users, but also maximizing EBITDA to us. One of the things that will try is a loyalty program, but it's something that we'll see how it works and similar what we'll try to do is try to get some additional segmentation and learning and seeing how the users see the value.

And based on that, we can do more segmented type of offers in the future. But again, bulk will be -- portion will be very similar to what we did last year, but with the learnings that we had, because this is just the second year. We are continue learning. And of course, this is a lot in the during many years. I mean we'll see more and more segmentation, more value to users and maximizing EBITDA for us. In the terms of NTE. Yes, the construction will end by the end of this year. And what we'll see at that point of time is our expectation is directionally is that more traffic will come back to the corridor.

As you know, what happened when you have construction and this is a congestion, then some of the traffic takes a different route. That probably for them is shorter and some of the trips that we used to have, they disappear. Once the situation is back to normal, then we'll start to see more traffic. It will take some time. Will ramp up, that they learned that probably they have savings, taking this corridor versus the alternative that they are taking today.

So we'll see more traffic at also at the same time with this more traffic at the end of the construction, we'll see less congestion because at the end, we are adding 1 new managed lanes in 1 sector and 1 that is not general portfolio in other sectors.

So there is more capacity in the corridor it will bring more traffic, less congestion and probably less mandatory mode. We are not giving any any guidelines about what effect that could have in revenues? And well, you have to wait to see the numbers, how is the effect in the future. And just regarding the the opportunities has commented, we see a quite unique pipeline of opportunities in the U.S., nothing that we have seen before.

It's not -- as you know, we are bidding to managed lanes this year the 77 South next year. We see other managing that will come very soon, hopefully, in Atlanta and Charlotte and the Nashville, sorry, and others that we're working on in the pipeline. Yes, as you know, we want also to expand airports in the U.S., something similar to NTO, there may be other opportunities.

So it's quite unique in terms of pipeline of opportunities. And -- but at the same time, we are not expecting to win all of them. As you know, we are very disciplined from a financial point of view. And for us, it's not only growing, it's creating value while growing -- but the fire power, maybe Ernesto can comment more about that.

Thanks, Ignacio. Well, as we presented at the Capital Markets Day and we tend to answer this, we usually don't have leverage at the infrastructure project level. But with good opportunities to grow, we could go to the leverage headroom that the BBB rating allows. We don't comment what are the ratios that rating agencies have. As a proxy, we have the -- our internal 2x net debt to EBITDA, and EBITDA is composed of dividends we get from projects that have substantial potential and also the EBITDA from other businesses like construction.

So -- that is the kind of proxy we use and we could use that leverage for firepower.

There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand it back to Sylvia Ruiz, Global Head of IR.

Thank you. Well, it seems that there are no questions in the webcast, so I will hand over to Ignacio.

Thank you, everyone, for your participation in this conference call. And so now we close it. And thank you very much for your participation.

Good afternoon, everybody. This is Silvia Ruiz speaking, and I would like to welcome you to Ferrovial's conference call to discuss the financial results for the third quarter of 2025. I'm joined here today by our CFO, Ernesto López Mozo. Just as a reminder, both the results report and the presentation are available on our website since yesterday evening, after the U.S. market was closed. At the end of the presentation, there will be a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions]

Before starting, please take a moment to look at the safe harbor statement included in the presentation. And please bear in mind that the presentation contains forward-looking statements and expectations that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, so actual figures may differ. Other than as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements. During this call, we will discuss non-IFRS financial measures, which are defined and reconciled to the most comparable IFRS measures in our results report.

With all this, I will hand over to Ernesto. Ernesto, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Silvia, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for Ferrovial's Third Quarter 2025 Operating Earnings Conference Call. Starting with the overview. I mean, in the first 9 months of 2025, we saw continued strong momentum across our business divisions. Our highways delivered outstanding revenue and EBITDA growth, fueled by our North American assets.

Airports saw continued progress at New Terminal One at JFK. Here, we are now intensely focused on operational readiness. Construction maintained solid profitability with the adjusted EBIT margin reaching 3.7% in the first 9 months. On the financial side, net debt, excluding infrastructure projects, stood at negative net debt or net cash, let's say, EUR 706 million. The main cash inflows included EUR 406 million in dividends collected from projects and proceeds of EUR 534 million from the sale of AGS Airports in the U.K. and EUR 539 million from the sale of a 5.25% stake in AGS Airports. This was closed in July.

The main cash outflows related to the acquisition of an additional 5.06% stake in the 407 ETR for the equivalent of EUR 1.3 billion and also equity injections of EUR 239 million in NTO. Shareholder distributions reached EUR 426 million in the first 9 months. We also announced a second scrip dividend and expect to submit the RFQ for the I-77 South Express project in North Carolina in December. As a reminder, we have already been shortlisted for bidding on the I-24, Southeast Choice Lanes in Tennessee and the I-285 East Express Lanes in Georgia. We expect to submit these bids in the first half of 2026.

Let's move now into the operations with the slide on highways. And here, the U.S. highway revenue grew 16.4% in like-for-like terms in the first 9 months of the year and compared to last year, and adjusted EBITDA was up nearly 15.1%. 97% of the highways adjusted EBITDA and 88% of the highways' revenue come from the North American assets. Dividends from these North American assets in the first 9 months of 2025 totaled EUR 312 million, versus the EUR 420 million in the same period last year. I mean this reflects the strong growth and the cash generation of these concessions. As a reminder, in the first 9 months of 2024 included the first dividend from the I-77, which was an extraordinary amount of EUR 195 million.

Let's move to the specific assets, the 407 ETR that delivered another outstanding performance this quarter. The traffic in the quarter grew strongly, 9.4%, and it grew 6.2% in the first 9 months of the year compared to last year. This growth reflects the success of targeted rush hour driving offers as well as the increase in mobility in the region from return to office mandates.

The strong underlying traffic trends was the cost driving 18.6% revenue growth in the third quarter and 19.3% in the first 9 months. EBITDA surged 20.1% in the third quarter and 15.8% in the first 9 months. In terms of Schedule 22, 407 ETR reduced the 2025 Schedule 22 Payment Estimate. Given the new estimate is markedly lower than the previous estimate, the provision for the first 9 months is lower than the one recorded up to June.

As a result, the 407 ETR recorded a CAD 9.8 million provision recovery in the third quarter, bringing the accrued provision for the 9 months to CAD 35.4 million. Promotions are working really well in incentivizing more efficient use of the road. Through these targeted offers, we continue to gain valuable insights into customer behavior.

We expect our focus on demand segmentation to continue enhancing value for users and maximizing EBITDA growth. In terms of dividends, CAD 450 million has been paid in the first 9 months of the year. This is up 13% compared with the same period last year. And the 407 Board has approved a dividend of CAD 1.05 billion to be distributed in Q4. This is up 50% from last year's fourth quarter dividend. And this would bring the total amount of dividends approved for the 2025 year to CAD 1.5 billion. This is up 36% from 2024.

Moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth Managed Lanes, Slide 6. We will start with NTE. And here, well, despite we see traffic impact from capacity improvement construction works, really, there's fewer vehicles in the corridor that has affected traffic declining 3.7% in the third quarter and 4.4% in the first 9 months of the year. The revenue per transaction has increased by a healthy 14.2% in these first 9 months. And this benefits from a favorable traffic mix that means more heavy vehicles in proportion and more mandatory mode events.

The asset grew the adjusted EBITDA by 7.4% in the first 9 months, and this includes $1.3 million of revenue share in the third quarter and $4 million in the first 9 months. In LBJ, traffic grew 1.7% in the quarter and 1.5% in the first 9 months of the year. And this despite the impact of continued construction works in the surrounding roads and corridors.

The revenue per transaction grew 8.7% in the first 9 months and the adjusted EBITDA grew 11.1%. Now with NTE 35W is the only Dallas-Fort Worth managed lane that is not impacted by construction works. Traffic in the third quarter grew 4.6% and by 4.1% in the first 9 months. This drove outstanding revenue per transaction growth of 12.0% in the third quarter and 10.2% for the first 9 months.

The adjusted EBITDA that grew 11.8% in the first 9 months of the year included $4.9 million of revenue share in the third quarter and $14.8 million in the first 9 months of 2025. All the Dallas-Fort Worth assets, as you see, recorded solid revenue per transaction growth, and this is above the soft cap, benefiting from the favorable traffic mix that I mentioned, there's more heavy in proportion. And in the case of NTE and NTE 35 West, they are also benefiting from more mandatory mode events, which occur when tolls are temporarily forced above the soft cap to guarantee a minimum level of service.

In terms of dividend distributions for the first 9 months, I mean, the figures at 100% participation would be $108 million for the NTE, $52 million for LBJ and $99 million for the NTE 35 West. There's no changes versus June. Please remember that these projects usually distribute dividends in June and December.

Moving to management outside Dallas Fort Worth, we have the I-66 and the I-77. The I-66 saw exceptional traffic growth, 13.2% in the third quarter and 8.5% in the first 9 months of the year. And the revenue per transaction grew 12.1% in the quarter and 18.3% in the first 9 months of the year. This strong growth was driven by robust corridor growth, especially during peak times where we are seeing some benefits from greater enforcement of return to office policies.

Really, this is happening across the U.S. and also Canada. This strong underlying traffic trends helped to drive the outstanding growth of 32.5% in adjusted EBITDA in the first 9 months of the year. The I-66 distributed $64 million in dividends in the first 9 months. The I-77 also saw traffic growth here, 1.5% in the third quarter despite adverse weather conditions, particularly in August.

Revenue per transaction increased by a strong 25.7% in the quarter and 24.4% in the first 9 months. Adjusted EBITDA grew 21.1% in the first 9 months with $5.4 million of revenue share for Q3 2025, and this includes revenue share from extended vehicles. The revenue sharing, including extended vehicles, totaled $15.7 million for 9 months 2025 compared to $6.9 million in the first 9 months of 2024. And the I-77 distributed $22 million in dividends -- I mean, since the beginning of the year.

Now let's move to the Airports division. At New Terminal One, we are making a steady progress towards operational readiness. The project remains on budget. In terms of schedule, we are discussing acceleration measures with the contractor to guarantee that the official opening date of June 2026 is achieved. Construction is 78% complete and we have commitments from 21 airlines.

As a reminder from previous quarters, we achieved an important milestone in July, completing the refinancing of Phase A through the issuance of a $1.4 billion long-term bond. In Dalaman, we saw steady performance. Adjusted EBITDA growth in the first 9 months is supported by commercial upgrades and despite softer international traffic during the summer, that was affected by the geopolitical situation in the Middle East. In the first 9 months, traffic declined by 1.5%, yet revenue grew 2.9% and EBITDA 1.8%. Dalaman distributed EUR 7 million in dividends during the third quarter. This is Ferrovial's share.

Now let's move to Construction, that keeps showing solid profitability. The division delivered a 3.7% adjusted EBIT margin for the first 9 months of the year, aligned with the long-term target of 3.5%. And it recorded a solid 4.2% adjusted EBIT margin in the third quarter. Budimex and Webber maintained a steady profitability with very healthy adjusted EBIT margins of 7.6% and 3%, respectively, in the first 9 months.

Ferrovial Construction's adjusted EBIT margin was 1.7% in the 9 months, and this is down slightly versus the same period last year due to significant design activity in bidding for projects in the U.S. and costs related to digitalization and IT systems, while partially offset by increased margins in projects approaching completion. So these expenses should be for the good growth that we're seeing ahead.

Our order book stands at EUR 17.2 billion at the end of September. This is up 9.1% in like-for-like terms from the -- compared to the close of 2024 December. The composition of the order book remains very healthy given the lower weight of large design and build projects with nongroup companies. It does not reflect approximately EUR 2.3 billion in contracts that are pre-awards or are pending financial close. And almost half of our -- half of our backlog is in our core U.S. and Canada market, we expect will continue to support future growth.

Now let's move to the next slide, just to have a look at the main figures. You see the strong revenue and profitability performance for the first 9 months of the year. I mean, strong across the board, revenue growing 6.2%, adjusted EBITDA, 4.8% and adjusted EBIT by 6.0% in like-for-like terms.

Let's move now into the consolidated net debt position. In the next slide, the net debt, excluding infrastructure project companies, as I mentioned in the introduction, was negative EUR 706 million or net cash of EUR 706 million at the end of the third quarter. This reflects a strong cash generation also disciplined investment and the impact of recent divestments.

Here, we have the bridge where we see that we collected a strong dividends. Please remember, this figure does not include the latest dividend announced by the 407 ETR that will be paid in the fourth quarter. The cash flow from construction is affected by the lack of significant advanced payments during the first 9 months. You know that there's usually seasonality in construction. We expect to see a substantial improvement in working capital in the last quarter of the year.

Then in this operating section, we also have tax payments that are mainly related to Budimex and to a lesser degree, construction projects in Australia and Canada. We also looking into the investment bucket, we see significant activity in terms of investments for growth. I mean, the main one being the 5.06% acquisition, additional stake in the 407 and also the equity injections in NTO. Just a reminder, NTO has no additional equity injections scheduled for the year.

Additionally, in this block, we also reflect the interest received in cash and deposits, right? And also here, we reflect the divestments from the sale of Heathrow and AGS primarily. Then we have the shareholder distributions, including cash and share buybacks amounted to EUR 426 million. Here, we are on track, remember, to deliver across the years 2024 through 2026, EUR 2.2 billion in cash to our shareholders. So we are on that. And then we have the cash flow from financing activities related to external debt repayments, interest and so on and also the FX translation of the cash balances sheet. So it's a very solid net cash position.

So let's move to the -- I mean, closing remarks I would like to make before moving into the Q&A session. Really, the performance in the first 9 months of 2025 demonstrates, I mean, shows the strength and resilience of our portfolio, the North American assets continue to drive growth, supported by increased customer segmentation and favorable market dynamics where the assets are located.

Looking ahead, we're really looking forward to the attractive pipeline of opportunities in North American highways mainly. I mean, we expect to have bid submissions for the I-24 in Tennessee, I-25 in Georgia in the first half of 2026. And also at the end -- before the end of this year, the submission of the RFQ for the I-77 South in North Carolina. The construction order book remains healthy and the division ready to enable delivery on the growth opportunities that the infrastructure concession pipeline shows.

Well, thank you, and let's move into the Q&A session.

Thank you very much, Ernesto. Let's start with the Q&A session. Operator, please go ahead.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Ruairi Cullinane from RBC Capital Markets.

First question on the NTO. What are the potential financial consequences in a scenario where there is a delay to the launch of Phase A? And secondly, the widening of operating losses in the other segment, was that just driven by the divestment?

Okay. So well, as I mentioned, we are working with the contractor for the official opening date in June. If there were to be delays below -- I mean, beyond June, then the contractor will have to face liquidated damages. For us, delays in opening would mean that there's delay in the perception of revenues, right?

But as I said, we are working on what's needed for the original opening. Regarding the other segments, yes, this plant, Isle of Wight was commissioned some months ago. Usually, when -- I mean, you have just commissioned some of the operations could be affected, right? So basically, we needed to invest to improve the ash removal from the chamber. And also, we delayed a little bit the ramp-up, right?

So it's related to this commissioning and start-up of this plant. Remember that when we divested the whole services business. We mentioned that this part of waste treatment in the U.K. needed overhaul of the plants before divesting. So we've been doing that with all the plants. It was the last to be commissioned. And yes, we are now -- we would be exiting this business, let's say.

Great. Actually, could I just...

Yes, go ahead. You're on the line.

Should we expect any impact from the U.S. government shutdown in Q4? Just one more question.

Thanks. I mean, up to date, I mean, we haven't really seen any significant impact on the I-66. That is the one that is closer to Washington, not really maybe some tweak in traffic, but nothing significant in terms on revenue. So up to date, nothing. We'll have to monitor that, but we haven't seen anything. And regarding all the bidding processes are mainly carried out at the, let's say, state level. So that's not affected. And the only, let's say, federal agency involved here is [indiscernible]. So the process goes on as scheduled so far.

The next question comes from Elodie Rall from JPMorgan.

My first one is on Schedule 22. The provision reversal in Q3, I think, came a bit as a surprise. Maybe you can come back on what drove this reversal, if it's the fact that underlying traffic was a lot higher, promotions outperformed. And also what that means with regard to how optimistic you are with regard to Schedule 22 penalty decreasing to 0 maybe sooner? And what would be the time frame? And my second question is on the NASDAQ 100 inclusion. I was wondering if you could give us some color what you think about your chances to get in and the latest on that.

Thanks, Elodie. Yes. So with the Schedule 22, several things. I mean, first of all, there's been more mobility in the area. As I mentioned with the U.S., it's also happening in Toronto. There's a clear mandate of return to the office. And you see in general congestion in the area. I mean one example is the 407 East that was the toll and has seen traffic jumps in the summer every now and then.

So clearly, there's more mobility in the area. That's something that has helped. But the main driver has been that we've been positively surprised how accurate promotions have been, right? So all the heavy users remain using it as they were expected or even a little bit more and then the infrequent users are starting to use it, right? So really, the combination of our rush hour preposition being more valuable given what's happening in the area and really this segmentation, it has worked much better.

I mean we don't make comments on basically how this could pan out in the future because, I mean, the product has to have all the quality that is needed. So maybe we see in the future Schedule 22. What is sure is that it's performing much better than the assumptions we had when we bought the additional stake. So we are super happy with this situation, but we won't comment on the projections of Schedule 22.

And then regarding the NASDAQ 100, well, it's going to be determined at the end of November with all the relative market cap. So it's not for me to talk about chances. It will be performance and relative performance, right? So I won't comment on chances. I mean the good thing about NASDAQ is that all the criteria are very clear. Everybody can have their own bet, but it's not for me to make any, okay.

The next question comes from Cristian Nedelcu from UBS.

On the ETR, you have the pricing for next year you will announce in November. I don't know if you can offer any color there. It seems that the backdrop is favorable. You have more mandates to the office, more congestion. And also, if we look at your last 5 years price increases in the context of the tariffs being frozen, you've been doing smaller price increases on average than pre-COVID levels. So I guess my question is any reason why the price increase will not be comparable with what you've done over the last 2 years in the ETR for 2026?

The second question on the ETR our estimate, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the discounts you're offering, this represents somewhere around $100 million, $150 million per year in discounts. Now we just discussed the S22 provisions are lower than we thought. Can you give us a bit of a directional steer into 2026? How should we think about these discounts? Should they be flat year-over-year? Or do you see reasons to increase them year-over-year or maybe decrease them?

And the last one, if you allow me, on the I-66, I mean, we've seen double-digit volume growth in Q3, more returns office mandates. Could you talk a little bit about the development we've seen there on revenue per transaction actually decelerating versus Q2? What caused that? Is it mix or other factors? And to what extent this development in Q3 is sustainable for the next quarters?

Thank you. Well, let me -- maybe I'll ask you to come back to some because there was a lot of explanation, very well crafted by the way. I mean let me start with the last one. I mean, with the I-66, we have to go back to 2024 to understand that it was in that quarter that we, let's say, insisted more on the dynamic pricing with the algorithms more flexibly looking at the opportunities there.

So there was already, let's say, a bump or growth at that time. And then it seems like a deceleration, but really everything kind of started there has been building up throughout the year, right? But the algorithm keeps improving. Let's see how it performs going forward, but we are optimistic there. Then regarding the 407, as you say, discounts or so, we probably view it in a different way, right? And we look at the revenue and EBITDA growth, right?

So some of these promotions are helpful to incentivize other trips, right? So yes, it could be seen as a discount or just a kind of loyalty or incentive. I mean what we focus in the end is out of all the noise that we have a solid revenue growth, client satisfaction, and we have proper segmentation, right?

So I wouldn't be looking into discounts. I would be looking into the revenue growth. And then, I mean, I cannot comment on all the logic that you expressed, so thoughtful. Yes, I mean, we expect the 407 to have in terms of timing and announcement date similar to last year, the rest of the logic, I cannot tell, okay? So we will have to wait for that to be announced.

The next question comes from Ami Galla from Citi Research.

Just a few questions from me. The first one was on NTO. If you could give us some color based on the agreements that you've had with the 21 airlines as to the broad framework of how should we think about fees and the revenue structure when you start operating? I appreciate it's early days, but if you can give us some ballpark estimates of how should we think about that, that could be helpful.

The second question I had was on the managed lanes business. Where you've been operating -- you've had mandatory mode events. Were there any specific events or disruption in Q3 that drove that? Or was that a general increase in traffic that led to that? And last one was on the competitive backdrop. Any color as to how do you see competitive intensity across your markets on the contracting side?

Okay. Thanks. Let me see if I can address those. If I mean, forget one, I will ask you again, sorry for that. So the first one regarding NTO airlines and ramp-up. I mean, we are really in a commercial sensitive stage, right? Ahead of the opening, you always have airlines coming ahead of some months before the opening. So that's been negotiated now. We cannot comment now.

It's true that we -- I mean, we know we have to provide more information to the market that will have to be decided later on right now. As I said, the focus is operational, the first thing and commercial, okay? So we will have to update later on. Regarding the mandatory modes in the managed lanes, really, it's probably an effect of also more peak hour activity. As I mentioned before, across the U.S. in Toronto, we are seeing a very clear mandate to go back to the offices 5 days a week, and that drives traffic and also drives peak performance, right?

So that also combined with a higher proportion of heavies, as we mentioned, has brought the demand at remote. Even though, as I said, there's less traffic in the corridor on the NTE, not NTE 35 was that is unaffected, right? So I mean, the explanation we have is what I mentioned, right? And then the last one, sorry, could you say again what was the third question?

It was more on construction and the contracting side. If you -- from a competitive perspective, are you finding it more difficult to win contracts at the margins that you are looking for? I mean, how is that backdrop in the current?

No, I would say that in contracting, rather the contrary, I mean, there's more activity. I mean, the heavy civil works that is our focus normally remains as active as it has been. You also have on top of that all the data center activity. So the construction sector has more activity and there's no more resources or more competition in that regard, right? So we are not seeing, let's say, tightening in terms of people being super aggressive. It's very -- I think it's a rational market environment, if I may.

The next question comes from Dario Maglione from BNP Paribas Exane.

Three questions for me. One on the Texas managed lanes. You mentioned in the press release, there was a positive effect due to traffic mix. Can you tell us more about this? Is it both heavy vehicle and light trucks that have a higher share? And if you could tell us why this is happening?

Second question, how far is the LBJ from hitting mandatory modes? Third question on the 407 ETR, going back to the incentives working very well. Can you give us some examples of these incentives -- and maybe more color on which ones are working best in your view?

Well, thanks. Really, in terms of the traffic mix in the managed lanes, that has helped more heavy, that is a combination, probably not of the heaviest, but probably more on the other side, the lighter trucks or commercial vehicles that we can call it. I mean there's more. I mean, I cannot give you like a macro rationale of why this is happening. Maybe they are also keener to basically use our road in peak times given the -- I mean, the more intensity, right, that we are seeing because of the mandate back to the office, right?

So I mean, the reality is that there is more. I don't have a cost effect that I can comment now. We keep looking at it. But right now, I cannot give you any specific one. Regarding LPJ, LPJ, really, there's more free lanes. So there's more capacity. And also, you have people that have avoided the corridor because of all the works in the surrounding roads, right? So yes, it's not expected anytime soon because of all these components that I mentioned. We will have to see going forward how much traffic comes back to the corridor and how growth happens. But no, we are not expecting any in the near term to have the mandatory modes.

And then regarding incentives, I think that anything that has to do with the rush hour now with more the mandate back to the office is really appreciated. So I think that as always, it works well with people that work or live close to the road, right? So this is where the impact is always more effective. But I mean, I don't have any kind of specific segmentation to comment now, and this will keep evolving a long time. So we will be discussing this in the future. At the moment, what I say is just the value of the peak hour promotion is higher than what it was some time ago.

The next question comes from José Manuel Arroyas from Santander.

Two questions, please. First one is on the potential to deleverage any of the managed lanes. I know there is a limit, which is the need to incur a refinancing gain if you do so, but I wanted to hear from you if you expect any of the managed lanes to pay dividends in excess of their underlying free cash flow anytime soon.

And my second question is again on 407 ETR's promotions. I wanted to understand -- I understood a comment you made earlier, Ernesto. I think you said that the promotions are helping to increase customer segmentation. And I'm not sure how that's happening. And I was wondering if you are just alluding to the fact that the current tariff in 407 ETR has more segments than before. I wanted to understand your comment earlier about this.

Okay. I will start with the -- I mean, yes, well, the first one, right, the leverage on the managed lanes. Yes, there's a possibility of relevering some of them, namely the I-66. Not short term, but also not far away, right? So clearly, in the coming years, there could be an opportunity there.

In the 407 -- well, not much about 407 clearly, and that's very obvious. And in the rest of the Express Lanes, not at the project level. Maybe there could be some tweaking just outside the project level that we are exploring. But I mean, we will be commenting to the market when they are closer. I don't expect any short-term news there. Yes, the 407 has more headroom there.

And then when I'm talking about segmentation, no, it's more than the current time frame and so on. I mean you have some people that have been infrequent users and you end up maybe providing some teasers, some promotions that make them travel more. So yes, you can do that and it's working, right? So if someone that you have understood that won't make more trips than a certain given amount, then the promotions are different for them, right, than for someone that can maybe increase some usage, right? So that's when we talk about segmentation helping is more in that regard. Yes, I think that was it, right?

The last question comes from Marcin Wojtal from Bank of America.

So I have a couple of questions. One is on the share buyback. I mean, you committed to return EUR 500 million through the buyback. I believe based on the last weekly disclosure, EUR 142 million has been spent. So should we still assume that this buyback is on track to be completed in full by the end of the mandate, which I believe is May 2026? And can you explain why is this buyback only being done through the U.S. line?

Originally, I believe you were buying both through the European listing and the U.S. listing and now it's only going through the U.S. And my second question is regarding your business plan, which goes from 2024 to 2026. Should we expect a new business plan to be presented at some point in the next, let's say, 18 months?

Yes. Thanks, Marcin. Absolutely, we are committed to the EUR 2.2 billion. You mentioned May 2026 is the end of 2026 that we will be delivering on the EUR 2.2 billion. We have some catch-up to do. We've also been wondering the mix of distributions and buybacks because we have to also help that liquidity is not, let's say, drained from the market, and you see that the U.S. needs a lot of liquidity.

So yes, buybacks have been tiny. We need to catch up. So point taken. And it has been small and has been in the U.S., but it could be done elsewhere. So short answer is yes, we'll deliver. We have to catch up. It's not May, it's the end of 2026, but we are on it.

I'm sorry, what about your business plan targets...

I forgot about that. I mean Silvia was pointing that you're missing about the business plan. Well, we'll -- I mean, there's no decision yet, but yes, we will have to update the market. Also bear in mind that we have important bids that will be awarded next year. So yes, definitely, we will have to be getting in touch with you guys. There's no official date, nothing just in the calendar yet, but yes, we will have to update.

We have a new question, and the question comes from Alvaro Lenze from Alantra Equities.

Yes. Just one quick question. We saw last week, I believe, a small acquisition in data centers. Just if you could run us again just to catch up on what's your strategy in data centers? I think you have been not very enthusiastic in the space compared to some of your peers. But I don't know if this acquisition signals that you see more opportunity? Or is there any change to your strategy in data centers?

Yes. Thanks. Well, really, the acquisition is tiny. It adds capabilities, let's say, for the Construction division in data centers because it has capabilities -- the company acquired has capabilities in installation, data center maintenance management.

So all these kind of works and capabilities are in general scarce in the market, and we are being demanded by our clients to deliver on this. So this is more related to the Construction division. Data centers, we remain opportunistic. It could be a good business. We go on a piecemeal approach so far. So no change there.

There are no further questions at the conference call. I will now hand back to the Silvia Ruiz.

Thank you, operator. So I have one question here from the webcast. This is from Miguel González from JB Capital. The question is, could you please explain the reasons behind the acceleration in highways headquarters and other costs? And do you expect this trend to continue in the coming quarters?

Yes. And maybe I should have covered this in the presentation because I've seen some notes from analysts really highlighting this. Two things. I mean, one of them is comparing to last year, last year, we got the ST spend of roughly EUR 12 million from the SR 400 that we lost. So we got the ST spend and that was reflected in the Q3 of '24 overheads from Cintra.

And now really, what we are doing is 2 things that are adding. We are spending or investing, you may call it that way, on the engineering for the bidding of the pipeline that is about to come and for bid. And then the other part is also IT that, of course, there's developments with all the evolution that we have in systems with AI and so that is really helping in revenues. But yes, it has this expenditure. So it's IT and bidding costs. And I think that both of them are for the good reason. Yes, I should have picked us in the speech, okay? So thanks for bringing this up.

Okay. I think there's no further questions. So thanks for being with us. I think that the results are excellent. We're looking forward to meeting you and to the new developments in the business coming up. Thank you, and bye-bye.